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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24630349">Walking on Moonlight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparkles_and_Shadows/pseuds/Sparkles_and_Shadows'>Sparkles_and_Shadows</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians &amp; Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Attempt at Humor, Blow Jobs, Bottom Nico di Angelo, Eventual Smut, First Kiss, First Time Blow Jobs, First Times, Fluff and Smut, Friendship, He's scarred™, Hurt Nico di Angelo, Hurt/Comfort, Jason Grace &amp; Percy Jackson Bromance, Jercy bromance is out of control, M/M, Masterbation, Nico doesn't know what to do with his desires, Nico gets sex education, Nico-centric, Rimming, Self-Acceptance, Self-Love, Sexual Tension, Top Will Solace, Werewolves, Whipped Nico di Angelo, sexual awakening, some violence, someone save him, werewolf Nico</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 00:41:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>48,643</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24630349</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparkles_and_Shadows/pseuds/Sparkles_and_Shadows</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There are only two ways of becoming a lycanthrope. Either being genetically born with it or being bitten by the Bitch Queen also known as the first werewolf Lycaon himself. While the former was fairly common, specially in werewolf packs, the latter was almost as rare as Zeus keeping it in his pants for longer than a few years, which suffice to say, was very rare. </p><p>So ofcourse it was the second option which came to bite Nico di Angelo in the ass. Literally. </p><p>////-.-////-.-///</p><p>Or the one where Nico di Angelo becomes a werewolf and thinks he has lost everything, only to understand the power of unconditional love and friendship and truly discovering himself. (Aka Nico going through Puberty, Lycanthropy and Gay panicking about Will.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Jason Grace/Percy Jackson, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>171</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>497</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello!!  I Hope you like this introductory chapter! I'm new to this writing business so feel free to leave constructive feedback but please don't be too mean about it :D</p><p>To clear a few things:<br/>The bag being mentioned is the one Piper got from Midas in The Lost Hero. As far as I remember the trio use it to capture storm spirits as it could hold huge quantities without getting heavier. I don't remember what happened to it or why it was never mentioned again, but in case it was destroyed in the books, let's just ignore that for the sake of the story. </p><p>Hope you all stay safe and healthy! And continue to cuss out racist dipshits :D #BLM</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dusting off the monster dust from his new leather jacket for the seventh time in two days, Nico couldn't help but think he was cursed with the most rotten luck, even by demigod standards.</p><p>With a wince he looked down at the somewhat deep gash running along his right arm. It looked more dramatic than it felt, with blood flowing down to his wrist, making his grip on the hilt of his sword slippery. With a frustrated sigh Nico switched the blade to his left hand and wiped his bloody hand on his black jeans.</p><p>He contemplated the pros and cons of eating another square of ambrosia - he didn't have much left. Just two more pieces of the godly food, along with maybe half a bottle of unicorn drought. But on the other hand he couldn't risk his fighting arm getting infected while he was exhausted from power usage and could feel at least two bruised, if not broken, ribs.</p><p>Not for the first time, Nico wished he hadn't been stupid enough to forget his pouch of drachmas on his bed back at camp so he could at least iris-message someone.</p><p>With another dull sigh for good measures, Nico popped a square of ambrosia in his mouth. Instantly he felt warmth coursing through his veins as the taste of Biscotti gelato filled his mouth. Bianca's favorite. Nico felt a pang in his chest at the thought of his late sister but brushed it aside, he had accepted the fact that Bianca was gone for good and staying hung up on her death would cause him nothing but more pain. Besides, he had Hazel and Reyna to fill in the sister's role in his life now. They would never be able to fill in the Bianca sized hole in his heart, but they had already started healing it's ragged edges.</p><p>Brushing the thoughts aside, the son of Hades finally shouldered Piper's golden magic bag which was filled to it's limit with Celestial Bronze so the Hephaestus cabin could make more weapons for the influx of new campers being enrolled ever since the last Titan war. You couldn't say the gods didn't keep themselves busy.</p><p>After more than three months of being bullied out of his personal bubble and unhealthy habits by a certain stubborn and annoyingly attractive son of Apollo, who definitely did <em>not </em>make skeleton butterflies go wild in his stomach(<em>shut up Jason), </em>Nico was downright itching to get away from everyone for a few days to get his shit together.</p><p>He wasn't used to the company of the living and while all the attention and the friendly smiles made him feel incredibly flattered and hopeful that this time the welcome won't wear thin like it did after the second Titan war, it also overwhelmed him sometimes.</p><p>That's why when Chiron had coined a solo quest to get more Celestial Bronze from the mines of Olympus, Nico had jumped at the opportunity and accepted the quest.</p><p>Will and Jason hadn't bothered to hide their disapproval and concern at his decision and pressed he wasn't ready for a solo quest when he had <em>just</em> stopped fading or fainting every time he used his powers, but had grudgingly given in when the raven point that the quest wasn't all that difficult<span class="u">,</span> specially with Piper offering her golden magic satchel to carry the precious metal.</p><p>Now, almost five days after he had started his quest, he wasn't so sure. Only a few hours after leaving camp he had started attracting monsters, specially packs of werewolves. Apparently they had a personal vendetta against him for when he mutilated their sire, the Queen Bitch Lycaon.</p><p>The son of Hades had been shocked to find that Lycaon was still alive. Apparently the small silver pocket knife Nico had jammed in his abdomen four months prior had zapped his energy and life force massively, but alas a blade that small hadn't been enough to send the Lycanthrope king back to Tarturus.</p><p>Nico knew better than to take any comfort in the thought of Lycaon being weak, Tarturus had taught Nico never to underestimate an enemy. He had noticed the striking pattern of the Lycanthropes these last five days. They attacked him after every couple of hours in a pack of not more than five and never went for a fatal blow. They weren't here to kill him. No, this was a strategy to tire Nico out so Lycaon could take him out himself.</p><p>With him already exhausted from as much power usage as he could risk and fighting both, monsters attracted to him because of his demigod scent and the pack of werewolves after him, he knew it wouldn't be long before he collapsed.</p><p>Camp wasn't that far now, but with him too exhausted to shadow travel anymore, it would take at least another day before he reached safety.</p><p>Sheathing his Stygian iron sword next to his two foot tall silver blade, Nico clutched the golden bag tighter and started his search for a place safe enough to crash for a few hours.</p><p>Hades, he was so done with this quest.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nico woke up to the sound of several horses neighing in agitation and sat up straight only to be assaulted by the smell of horse poop. A little disoriented, he took in his surroundings. He slept in a stable nearby with a few horses with the hopes that the strong smell of the horse shit would conceal his demigod scent enough to get a couple hours of sleep, but if the nervous horses were anything to go by, danger wasn't far away.</p><p>Stealing a couple seconds to ground himself Nico unsheathe his silver blade and walked a little further from the stable. It was dark outside, around 3-4am if he had to guess. His suspicion was confirmed when he heard the faint growling of wolves in the distance and a sense of dread settled over him. Inspite of fending off werewolves since the beginning of his quest, for some reason his demigod meter was going haywire and every ounce of his being told him he was is danger.</p><p>In the distance he heard howls which definately sounds a lot more than that of five wolves and all doubts vanished from Nico's mind. Lycaon had finally decided to show his hideous face and Nico only had a few moments at best before Lycaon and his pack of wolves surrounded him.</p><p>A sense of calm which came from fighting in two wars settled over him as a game plan formed in his mind. With how consistent Lycaon had been with his attacks, Nico knew that he himself would only confront him when the king Lycanthrope was confident about his chances against Nico even in his weakened state. That meant he was coming with his entire pack to corner Nico and tired him out even more before the king went for the final blow.</p><p>With Shadow traveling out of the option and no drachmas for an iris message, Nico's only chance of survival was either fighting his way out of here or somehow calling for help.</p><p>For a second Nico contemplated summoning Jules Albert to drive him to camp. He had avoided that option because the son of Hades knew werewolves were alot faster than normal wolves and he didn't want to risk them catching up with his car, leaving him trapped in the automobile with very little fighting space. Moreover Nico couldn't risk the car getting stuck in New York traffic and any mortals getting hurt should the werewolves attack him then. No, going with Jules was not an option. But he might be able to help Nico otherwise.</p><p>Another faint growl in the distance set Nico into motion. With startling speed and agility, he moved far enough from the stable that if a showdown happened, the horses won't become prey to the werewolves crawls. With his bottle of unicorn drought in one hand and his silver blade in the other Nico focused on summoning Jules Albert.</p><p>He stumbled a little as dark spots danced in front of his eyes but drew them out by taking big gulps of the drought.</p><p>"Take this bag to camp Half-Blood as soon as possible" Nico whispered urgently, "and tell Jason to send help. Lead them to me" Nico said while handing the golden bag with the precious metal to the zombie and sending him off.</p><p>Immediately after, Nico set to work. He spread the loads of silver coins he had collected during his quest around the clearing and set up traps the Hermes cabin had taught him during Capture the Flag to capture Will Solace from the Apollo cabin as revenge for cursing Nico to speak in rhyming couplets for a week. <em>The audacity.</em></p><p>The thought of the blond caused an ache to go through Nico's heart. Ever since their encounter on Half blood hill during the war with Gaia, Nico couldn't stop thinking about the annoying son of Apollo. He spent the majority of his three days in the infirmary either sleeping or bickering with the blond. Will was stubborn, sarcastic, witty and immune to Nico's death glares and bad attitude. The fact that he was also downright gorgeous didn't help Nico's condition of heart palpitations which for some reason only acted up in the presence of the healer. Throughout the last three months he had pushed Nico to step out of his comfort zone and make friends.</p><p>No matter how much Will's sunny personality pissed Nico off, he couldn't help but like him. He couldn't stop his face from flushing everytime Will smiled at him or his heart from beating extra fast when he made him laugh his musical loud laugh or his stupid desire to be close to the blond everytime he saw him strutting around camp in his positively horrendous outfit and flip-flops.</p><p>A movement in his peripheral vision snapped him out of his thoughts and instantly he went on high alert. The clearing was still empty but he could feel eyes on him and movement around him in the bushes. The son of Hades made sure his face was blank and his stance confident. The first rule of fighting werewolves was to never show any fear or weakness.</p><p>"Are you just going to stare at my pretty face from the shadows like a creep or are you going to show yourself" Nico drawled sarcastically.</p><p>The sound of a dry chuckle made Nico whirl around as Lycaon stepped out of his cover. His features were more sickly than Nico remembered from their last encounter. The Lycanthrope was still tall and wirey with a haggard face and red eyes, but his skin was as white as paper, his eyes had a mad not-so-controlled look in them and his dark circles could probably give post-Tarturus Nico's a run for their money. The crown of fingers on his head was about ready to topple off and his robes of furs hung around him loosely.</p><p>"Lycaon, dont you look charming." Nico smirked.</p><p>"You should worry about your own self son of Hades, my sons have you surrounded" Lycaon sneered.</p><p>Nico let out a laugh, "Why Lycaon, are you too scared to fight a single demigod yourself?"</p><p>"I know you got your ass handed to you last time but I didn't think you were that much of a coward." He continued in an almost bored tone as he made a show of cleaning his cuticles with the silver blade.</p><p>Nico was hoping he could goad Lycaon into fighting him alone instead of sicking his entire pack on him. Even weak, Lycaon was not to be taken lightly but Nico figured he had more of a chance of survival fighting him than his whole pack.</p><p>Out of every reaction Nico was expecting at his comment, an evil smirk thrown in his direction wasn't it. Nico took a threatening stance as his war instincts kicked in.</p><p>"Oh Nico di Angelo" the Lycanthrope tsked, "You have no idea what I've planned for you, do you?"</p><p>Nico heard a howl before all hell broke loose as wolves jumped on him from every direction. Nico reckoned the only reason he wasn't dead yet was because the pack still wasn't trying to kill him. However they were way more vicious than before and fighting almost twenty wolves drained him faster than he anticipated.</p><p>He let his fighting instincts take over as he slashed his silver blade through fur and dodged many claws and teeth. In the back of his mind Nico registered that Lycaon and around five wolves with the same coloured coat and roughly the same size stood on the side watching. Nico was bleeding from many cuts but the adrenaline flowing through his veins numbed the pain.</p><p>One tried to sneak up behind his back but whimpered as it stepped on a bunch of silver coins and fell right on Nico's sword. A few tripped on his traps and lost their balance giving Nico an opening to turn them to dust.</p><p>"Call off your dogs and face me yourself Lycaon!" Nico shouted while another werewolf turned to dust under his silver blade.</p><p>Nico felt like he had been slashing through werewolves for hours before he heard Lycaon command his troops to fall back. Nico was about ready to collapse and bleeding from many places. Adrenaline and anger were the only things keeping him afloat, his never endings practically tingling from anticipation.</p><p>However, dread settled in his stomach when he saw Lycaon shift and the significance of the five identical looking wolves drawn upon him. The king Lycanthrope had the same black coloured coat as them. Sure, being the first werewolf, he was a lot bigger than the rest and had blood red eyes, but that wouldn't help Nico distinguish him in a fight if the five other wolves joined him. He tightened the grin on his blade as Lycaon howled and six black wolves attacked him.</p><p>Nico only remembers a blur of black as he fought the six wolves. The fact that he didn't know which one of them was the Lycanthrope king set him on edge, making him lose his concentration more than once.</p><p>Nico sank his blade down to the hilt in of one of the wolves when it happened. A sharp pain flared from his left upper thigh as he cried out. Nico turned around to look straight into lycaon's blood red eyes from where his teeth were sunk in the flesh of his left upper thigh, his blood colouring his teeth red.</p><p>On instinct Nico swang his blade. Faster than he could process what was happening the blade sank into Lycaon's forehead with a sickening <em>thank!</em> as the first werewolf disinterested with a surprised look in his eyes. The werewolves around him howled and growled but it didn't matter to Nico. The bite on his upper thigh throbbed with pain and he felt like acid was flowing through his veins, turning his blood on fire, changing his very DNA.</p><p>
  <em>No no no no no....</em>
</p><p>Nico dropped the silver blade which was starting to burn a little and scrounge his jacket for the last square of ambrosia he had left. The taste of the godly food didn't even register in Nico's panic riddled brain as he swallowed it with difficulty. He waited a moment, then two, a few major cuts and gashes on his body stopped bleeding but Lycaon's bite still hurt like someone was pressing a red hot iron rod to it.</p><p>Then if possible, the pain in his body peaked as he felt his bones break and reassemble, the sound of fabric ripping dulled in comparison to his screams. Just as he felt his chest expand he let out a blood curling scream and unleashed a wave of death before everything went dark.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thankyou for reading another chapter! I hope you enjoyed it :D</p><p>I hope you all stay safe and healthy! And continue to cuss out racist pieces of shit :D #BLM </p><p>See you in the next chapter!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nico's senses were ticking like crazy when he regained consciousness.<br/><em>Hunters, danger, protect, attack. </em><br/>He opened his eyes to see the tip of a two foot long silver blade, more specifically <em>his </em>two foot long silver blade, pointed at his heart.</p>
<p>He didn't have time to register who was the one holding the blade before his predator instincts took over and he let out a feral sounding growl. With speed he didn't remember having, Nico dropped down in a threatening crouch. Eyes still fixed on the arm pointing the silver blade at him, Nico let lose another threatening growl.<br/><em>Back off, hunters. I don't want a fight. </em></p>
<p>"Reyna drop the blade, you're agitating him." Nico heard a familiar voice exclaim.</p>
<p>"Look around you Jason! Nico was here and this werewolf is our only chance of finding him." The hunter pointing the blade at him snapped back.</p>
<p>Confusion clouded his mind as the exchange registered. Not breaking his defensive stance, Nico took in his surroundings. He was standing right in the middle of a circle of destruction. The grass all around was withered and caked yellow with monster dust. The clearing was silent bar the soft sound of air rustling through the dead grass and the steady heartbeats of the three hunters. Nico looked at their faces and with a start realized, <em>No. Not hunters, demigods. His friends.</em> Reyna Arellano, Jason Grace and Will Solace. <em>The fuck..? </em>Nico wondered as he slowly relaxed his posture.</p>
<p>There were pieces of torn fabric all around him amidst which lay his three foot tall black Stygian iron sword.<br/>With a start Nico realized the torn fabric belonged to him. Black skull printed shirt, black skinny jeans, a worn out pair of boats, the black leather jacket Reyna had brought him from the camp store and <em>Holy Hera, were those- </em>his grey pair of boxers with crossbones over it.</p>
<p>
  <em>Well shit, this is embarrassing- wait. If my clothes are there then what am I wearing? </em>
</p>
<p>With a start Nico looked down at himself in horror and understood why his friends had a silver blade pointed at him. Where he expected to see his naked torso and skinny arms was a broad chest covered in a thick layer of light grey fur and long legs attached to paws- <em>paws.</em></p>
<p>The events of his fight with Lycaon came back to him as he slumped down rather ungracefully on ass and raised his-his <em>paws</em> to his face. His horror increased by the second as he felt long pointy ears which lead down to a long snort, sharp canine teeths and a strong angular jaw. Reyna's previous words echoed around his brain.</p>
<p>This werewolf is our only chance of finding Nico.</p>
<p>This <em>werewolf </em>is our only chance of finding Nico.</p>
<p>
  <em>This werewolf is our only chance of finding Nico.</em>
</p>
<p>Di immortals. Nico swore as the full implications of the bite wound on his left upper thigh registered.</p>
<p>Reyna, Jason and Will were looking at him curiously. <em>Not everyday you see a werewolf sitting on his bum and patting his face like a fucking face cream ambassador. </em>Nico huffed and looked at each one of them desperately.</p>
<p><em>What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck. </em>Nico let out a distressed whine. Can't the Romans understand wolf?</p>
<p>"Why is he freaking out? What is he saying?" Will Solace asked.</p>
<p>Inspite of the panic slowly creeping up on him, Nico's eyes lingered on the son on Apollo. Even guarded the blond looked beautiful with his hair shining like liquid sunshine and eyes as blue as the sky. His freckles practically glowed and it looked like all the sunlight in the area was attracted to him, bending around him in the best way possible. Looking into the healer's sky blue eyes, Nico felt grounded.</p>
<p>
  <em>Will's the best medic camp has seen in almost 70yrs, he'll know what to do. Right?</em>
</p>
<p>"He's...confused? Maybe he hit his head somewhere and thinks he's a cow or something?" Jason stated rather lamely. He was definitely spending too much time with Percy.</p>
<p>Reyna, Will and Nico stared at him for long enough for him to start fidgeting, face flushing a little. Good.</p>
<p>"<em>Hitting their head on bricks and dropping unconscious is your job Grace, not mine." </em>Nico barked, offended.</p>
<p>The two Romans looked at him in surprise, probably reading his body language like the wolf Godess Lupa had taught them.</p>
<p>"How do you know the brick joke? Only our friends at camp know about that." Jason asked suspiciously while Reyna translated Nico's response to the confused looking son of Apollo.</p>
<p>Nico hesitated. He had formed a tentative friendship with the three demigods over the course of the last few months, but would they still consider him worth befriending now that he was <em>a-a werewolf?</em> Would he even be welcome at camp anymore or would the magical borders deny him entry?</p>
<p>Nico thought about how after the second Titan war the campers had started giving him nervous looks and whispered behind his back. Being at camp these last few months, Nico had started to hope that maybe, this time he could actually accept camp as home and settle down. People had been kinder to Nico this time. He didn't knew whether that was because Solace had dragged him around camp, introducing him to everyone in sight and forcing him to have small talks or because Jason and Percy had made conscious efforts to be his friends; with time camp had felt more and more like home.</p>
<p>The possibility of losing that after getting a tiny taste of the safe haven squeezed his heart so painfully that he felt like keeling over and dying right then and there. Then a terrifying thought occured to him. If he were to die now, will he go to the underworld or Tarturus? A chill ran down his spin at the thought of that gods awful place and tremors shook his body at the thought of going back there. Would his father even accept Nico as his son anymore?</p>
<p>Nico's thoughts progressively got darker but thankfully a sharp intake of breath from one of the demigods stopped Nico from taking that trajectory of thought and he looked to see the blood draining from the son of Apollo's face, his eyes still fixed on Nico.</p>
<p>"Will?" Reyna asked.</p>
<p>"I-I-...wh-what if..." The son of Apollo stuttered cutely for a while before taking a deep breath and trying again.</p>
<p>"Ahem, yeah...okay so you know how Nico's zombie disintegrated as soon as we entered this clearing? That means Nico is close, right?" Reyna and Jason nodded at the blond, still as confused as ever.</p>
<p>Will sighed, "Well, the clearing is empty sans a werewolf sitting in the middle of a dead circle covered with monster dust and surrounded by Nico's clothes and weapons" Realisation of what the medic was implying drawn on the two Romans as they exchanged looks.</p>
<p>"Solace, are you implying this Lycanthrope is Nico?" Reyna snapped while glaring at the blond. The undertone of anger in her voice made Nico want to shrink back on himself.</p>
<p>Will gulped audibly before defending himself, "What else am I supposed to think? That a barely grown werewolf survived a wave of death released by one of the strongest demigods while the rest of the monsters in proximity disintegrated? Not to mention, said werewolf freaks out about his body like he doesn't recognise it?"</p>
<p>"Lycanthropy can only be inherited genetically or by Lycaon's bite" Reyna spat through gritted teeth, "The first option doesn't apply to Nico and he killed Lycaon just four months ago. With the Doors of Death closed there is no way he will be able to crawl his way out of the pit so soon."</p>
<p>"I don't know the specifics Praetor." Will replied in a monotone, "But how else can you explain Nico's absence?"</p>
<p>"Maybe he pushed himself to hard faded into the sha-" Reyna cut herself off before completing that sentence and looked over at Nico's wolf with wild calculating eyes.</p>
<p>The fact that the Roman would rather have him fading into the shadows forever than accept the possibility of Nico being a werewolf tore threw his heart as he backed away from the demigods slowly.</p>
<p>He was just about ready to dart off to go lick his wounds in solitude when he heard Jason calling out to him. "Nico stop. Please." Nico was surprised at the desperation in the son of Jupiter's voice and turned to face them again.</p>
<p>"Nico, please listen to me" Reyna chimed in. She had long dropped the silver blade and now the fight left her body as she hesitantly made her way towards him, "I swear I didn't mean it like that Nico, I-I just don't understand what's happening."</p>
<p>She reached him kneeled in front of his wolf so they were face to face. Her hand reached for his head as if wanting to pet him and Nico leaned into the touch.</p>
<p>"You're my friend Neeks, I would never wish for something like that to happen to you."</p>
<p>Nico soaked in her words and suppressed the weird urge to lick her face. <em>He had some dignity left after all.</em> He could tell she was sincere so he leaned in and lightly pressed his snort to her cheek. She chuckled lightly as the other two demigods approached them. The lack of malice on their faces eased the weight on Nico's chest drastically.</p>
<p>"Okay, don't get me wrong, you make a really cute dog di Angelo," Jason, that little shit, said with a small smile on his face, "but can you maybe turn back to human so we could make some sense of this situation?"</p>
<p><em>"Call me a cute dog again, I dare you Grace"</em> Nico growled before huffing, "<em>and I don't really know how to shift back to human." </em></p>
<p>"Uh, try concentrating on your body. Your wolf is a part of your conscience now, you have to command it to reside and let your human instincts take over" Will answered after Reyna translated for him.</p>
<p>He didn't really understand but gave it a try anyway. It was hard to concentrate with three pairs of eyes watching him like a hawk but Nico managed eventually.</p>
<p>Nico reached inside himself looking for something, he wasn't sure how, but he felt a split in his conscience, like suddenly he had two souls inside him but both, without a doubt, belonged to him. The thought made his skin itch uncomfortably and he freaked out a little as his wolf whined a little at the silent command to reside. Nico heard a gasp as he felt his bones break and reassemble again. His head spun as the fur on his body resided, giving way to naked human skin. When the shifting stopped he looked down to find himself as naked as the day he was born.</p>
<p>With a shrill yelp Nico rushed to cover himself as his face and chest flushed a furious pink. Jason, that son of a bitch, muffled a giggle against his hand before pulling a poker face.</p>
<p>
  <em>I am sooo filling his cabin with bones. </em>
</p>
<p>Nico noticed Will stealing glances at his naked body before blushing and looking away. Reyna, bless her soul, took off her golden-purple cloak and offered it to him silently. He clutched the piece of fabric like his life depended on it as he wrapped it around his hips.</p>
<p>"I, ugh....ill wash it for you later" Nico coughed, embarrassed.  Jason muffled another snort of laughter as Nico shot him a glare.</p>
<p>"Nico, what <em>happened </em>here? How did this happen to you?" Reyna asked and all traces of humor and embarrassment vanished from Jason and Will's faces as the three demigods waited for him to explain.</p>
<p>The attention made him nervous as he stuttered out an explanation. Reyna swore in Latin when he mentioned lycaon had survived in Portugal and had been planning to ambush Nico ever since.</p>
<p>"I thought the worse he would do was kill me" Nico said with a bitter laugh.</p>
<p>"That <em>is </em>the worst he could've done Nico. This is not the worse case scenario" Jason defended, protectiveness practically dripping from his voice.</p>
<p>"I'm a werewolf Jason! As if being from a different century and a son of Hades wasn't enough, I'm a monster too now!"</p>
<p>"Hey! Don't call yourself that! You're not a monster." Will rebuked.</p>
<p>"How can you know?!"</p>
<p>"Because we know you, you thick headed assha-" </p>
<p>"Everyone shut up!" Reyna snapped at all three of them. The clearing was silent for a few seconds before Nico's stomach growled. <em>So much for dignity. </em>She pinched the bridge of her nose before taking a deep breath and meeting their gazes.</p>
<p>"Jason come with me, we'll look for some clothes and food for Nico. Solace, stay here with him. And don't think even for a moment that we're done with that conversation Nico di Angelo."</p>
<p>Nico tried to complain that he didn't need a babysitter but the trio ignored him as they collected their weapons from the ground.</p>
<p>"Stop whining and enjoy your alone time with your crush" Jason whispered to him as he winked at Nico from behind his glasses and threw a suggestive glace to where Will was collecting his bow.</p>
<p>"He's not my crush" Nico hissed back but the son of Jupiter wasnt listening anymore as he made his way to where the Praetor was waiting for him.</p>
<p>With that the two Romans left Nico potentially naked with his very attractive not-crush. Dammit.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Another chapter done! Thankyou for reading :D<br/>I know these are mostly filler chapters, but I swear the good stuff is coming! I want Nico to go a whole arch so setting a base is important. </p>
<p>But nevertheless I hope you enjoyed it :D let me know what you think in the comments if you wish! </p>
<p>See you in the next chapter! Till then, I hope you stay safe and healthy and continue to cuss off racist dipshits!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"May I?" Will asked reaching for his hand. They were sitting beside each other on the yellow grass after the son of Apollo had insured there weren't any silver coins around that area.</p><p>"I'm fine" Nico frowned.</p><p>"You fought a whole pack of wolves and their king. Give me your hand Death boy."</p><p>"Don't call me that. And I feel fine Solace."</p><p>"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you"</p><p>That was the only warning he got before Will Solace tried to give him a heart attack by placing both his hands on Nico's cheeks and staring right into his eyes.</p><p>Nico's face burnt under the blond's touch as his heart tried to do somersaults in his chest. Pleasant tingles ran down his spine as he stared into the blue oceans that were Will's eyes. All his nerve endings seemed to be charged with electricity as Nico tried and failed to get his shit together, too distracted by the light exhales he could feel on his face and the mesmerizing smell of spices, sunflowers and disinfectant that was just so <em>Will</em>. Subconsciously he felt his wolf preen proudly at the close proximity with the blond.</p><p>The few inches between their faces seemed charged with electricity and Nico couldn't help but think what will happen if he closed the distance between them and kissed Will. The blond will probably slap him off and call him an idiot before proceeding to let him down gently. <em>Or he could kiss you back. </em>A voice that sounded suspiciously like Jason's said in his mind.</p><p>Nico knew Will was bisexual and he had his suspicion that the son of Apollo knew he was gay as well. Nico had never said it out loud, but after a little time, specially after he had walked in on Connor and Mitchell from the Hermes and Aphrodite cabin making out in the stables and discovered a lot of campers were LGBT+ from Annabeth and Piper, he'd stopped hiding it or feeling ashamed about it.</p><p>With eyes still locked and mental images of him kissing the blond still playing in his mind, Nico wondered if he was reacting this strongly because Will was using his powers or if it was just a Will effect but didn't dare voice his question.</p><p>Nico tried to ignore the disappointment in his chest when the healer removed his hands from his face. He thought Will seemed a little flustered as they separated but brushed it off as wishful thinking. His Wolf's whine echoed in his mind. Nico definitely ignored that.</p><p>"Was that really necessary." Nico tried to sound annoyed but his voice came out a lot shaky than he intended.</p><p>He looked away for a moment to catch his breath as Will replied with a "Should've just given me your hand" Like he hadn't just tried to kill Nico.</p><p>He looked around the clearing to distract himself from the body heat of the son of Apollo who was <em>still </em>too close for his sanity. Ever since he shifted, he had noticed his senses were a lot sharper than before. He could see, hear and smell things he couldn't before. Nico concentrated on the chatter of mortals and the neighing and grazing of horses in the woods nearby. Two mortals seem to be discussing something called Net flex or Netflix, there was a boy asking his parents if pigeons had ears in a rather concerned tone, to the side a couple seem to be fighting about getting marriage counseling. The noises got too overwhelming so Nico shifted his concentration on the squirrels running around a tree at the edge of the clearing. They seem to run in slow motion as Nico focused on them and let the surroundings fade into the background.</p><p>Finally, Nico turned to face the blond when he felt a little calmer.</p><p>"Well? Aren't you gonna pretend to be a real doctor and tell me what you found Solace?"</p><p>"I'm as good as your 'real doctors' and you know it di Angelo."</p><p>Will's face still seemed a little flushed but Nico expertly diverted his mind from drawing any conclusions from it. Mostly because he hadn't the slightest idea what he would do on the very very off chance that Will liked him back.</p><p>"You wish sunshine."</p><p>Will very eloquently rolled his eyes at the comment before giving his diagnosis.</p><p>"You have a few new scars but most of them seem to be fading or healed. I'm guessing it's because werewolves heal faster than demigods. There is one on the back of your left upper thigh that is definitely scarring though. Maybe it was deeper so it's taking some time to heal. Apart from that you're exhausted from using your powers and your heart rate seems to be very elevated but I think it's probably just the stress from the quest and the blood lose." Will summed up.</p><p>Nico didn't bother to correct Will about why his heart rate was so accelerated and focused on the first half of the sentence.</p><p>"Lycaon bite me on the thigh. Jackass attacked me from behind when I was fighting one of his other pets." Nico said with a growl.</p><p>When he didn't get a reply for a few seconds he turned to see the son of Apollo trying to suppress a smile.</p><p>"Its not funny!" Nico almost dropped Reyna's cloak as he exclaimed in outrage.</p><p>Will chuckled at his outburst. Nico couldn't help but admire his musical laugh even though he didn't understand what was so funny about his situation. He glared at the son of Apollo till he stopped chuckling though he still had an amused smile in place.</p><p>"Sorry sorry. Its just...are you really telling me out of all the places you could have gotten bitten, the Lycanthrope king bite you in the ass?" The sentence was so ridiculous, the son of Apollo burst out laughing.</p><p>"I wasn't bitten in the ass!" Nico exclaimed. Bright red face twisted into a glare. "Upper thigh does <em>not </em>count as ass."</p><p>"Sure sure, whatever you say Death boy." Will snickered quietly, calming down by the second.</p><p>"Its not!" Nico grumbled.</p><p>The duo were silent for a few moments before Will spoke a little hesitantly.</p><p>"Can I touch it?"</p><p>"Touch what?"</p><p>"The uh....bite..." Will looked at Nico nervous who was too busy trying not to choke on his spit.</p><p>"Wh-what! I'm not letting you touch my naked ass Solace!" Nico choked out.</p><p>"I thought upper thigh didn't count as ass?" Will sassed back.</p><p>That little shit.</p><p>"Wha....W-why do you even want to touch it?"</p><p>"I just want to check something." Will mumbled nervously. Nico could notice a faint blush on his tan face as the blond kept his eyes fixed on a piece of bandage he kept wrapping and unwrapping around his wrist. Will was a physically affectionate person who didn't think twice before throwing him arms around shoulders and random pats on the back. Nico had <em>just</em> started getting used to how casually Will touched him.</p><p>He had started hating being touched when an 11yr old Nico had discovered people hated being around a son of Hades. They treated him like he had a contagious chronic disease and flinched away from his touch. So Nico stopped reaching out and touching people. Back then he didn't mind if other people touched him willingly though. But then he went through Tarturus, where every touch was made to inflict pain, every grip tight enough to leave marks and every pressure meant to draw blood. After that his skin crawled everytime someone touched him.</p><p>But Will was different. Nico trusted Will. Pleasant jolts went down his spine everytime the blond healer put his warm hands on him. Nico bit his lower lip as he made his decision.</p><p>"Okay." Nico replied with an exhale.</p><p>Will looked at him in surprise. "Okay?"</p><p>Nico shrugged. "Yeah. I trust you Will."</p><p>The breathtaking smile which lit up his tan face made Nico's heart skip a beat and his wolf growl in pride.</p><p>With a small smile still in place, the son of Apollo twisted to face him and placed one hand on Nico's covered hip for balance before slipping his other one under the cloak.</p><p>As soon as the warm hand settled on the bite wound right below the curve of his ass, his wolf howled in pleasure inside him. Nico's cock twitched under the cloak as a wave of heat hit him and pure desire like he'd never felt before flooded his veins. He gripped Will's shoulders as his back arched towards him and a loud moan slipped past his lips in response to his blood rushing south.</p><p>The pleasure resided almost as soon as it had hit him as Will hurriedly removed his hand from Nico's naked skin, his pupils blown wide and tan face bright red.</p><p>Shaken from the sudden absence of the blinding desire, It took Nico a moment to realized what had happened and as soon as it did, he wanted the ground to open and swallow him whole. His face felt as hot as lava as he removed his hands from around Will's shoulders and sprung back. His half hard cock went down and <em>Di immortals </em>he's going to <em>bleach</em> Reyna's cloak before returning it.</p><p>"O-oh god's Will...i-i'm so sorry, I don't know w-what hit me...i-" Nico blabbered as the words stuck in his throat.</p><p>"Its okay Neeks. I anticipated that kind of response, you're fine." Will said, his face still flushed as he avoided eye contact and went back to playing with his bandage again. His voiced sounded shakey and Nico was a little glad he wasn't the only one embarrassed right now.</p><p>Nico blinked in surprise at him. "You anticipated that? What the fuck Solace!"</p><p>"I- Ahem, well, I've read a few medical texts about a few demigods who were Lycanthropes, though most of them were born with it. There wasn't much information about demigods who transformed after being bitten." Will cleared his throat again before continuing, "According to the books there is a centre of your wolf. Like it's a part of you but it's essence is strongest at the centre. In the demigods who were born with it, that centre was generally their belly button because that's where the umbilical cord is connected to. I figured your Wolf's centre would be at the bite."</p><p>Nico heard Will's explaination but the only thing that struck out to him was "There have been lycanthrope demigods before?"</p><p>Will looked at Nico in surprise, "Well ofcourse Nico! There have been instances of the Gene showing up in demigods because someone in their bloodline had been a werewolf."<br/>
Will shrugged, "It mostly happens when a werewolf leaves or gets kicked out of their pack and spends their lifes among the humans. The gene is tricky in non-werewolf folks. Mostly it stays dormant in mortals with pure human blood, but if the bloodline knowingly or unknowingly gets mixed with even traces of any supernatural blood, like gods, demigods, wizards, fairies, etc. the gene can become dominant."</p><p>"The werewolves have different abilities according to their type of blood. That's why the piece of ambrosia you had after being bitten didn't kill you on the spot." Will summed up his explaination, then while rubbing the back of his neck he added sheepishly, "Sorry, I keep forgetting not everyone reads medical texts in their free time."</p><p>Nico couldn't believe what he'd just heard. <em>I'm not the first demigod lycanthrope. </em>Hope bloomed in chest at that thought. He wasn't abnormal. He wasn't a freak. There have been people like him before. Granted, they didn't transform from the king's bite. But <em>still. </em>Untill now Nico hadn't even thought about the piece of ambrosia and how it can only be consumed by people with godly blood in their veins.<br/>
The thoughts overwhelmed him enough that he almost let go of the cloak holding the shreds of his dignity together in order to throw his arms around the son of Apollo. Almost.</p><p>"For once, I'm so glad you're a nerd Solace." Nico grinned.</p><p>"There's nothing wrong with being a nerd!" Will defended himself.</p><p>"Never said there was" Nico said almost fondly.</p><p>They bickered for a few more minutes before they heard Reyna and Jason's steps approaching them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Finally!! Some much needed Solangelo :')<br/>Let me know what you think about the whole werewolf demigods and genes stuff in the comments if you want :)<br/>I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D</p><p>Stay safe and healthy and continue to cuss out racist dipshits &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Is this the best you could find in New York?" Nico said with distaste as he looked at the pile of clothes Reyna and Jason had brought for him.</p><p>There was a pair of positively horrid looking acid washed ripped jeans, white converse, a pair of light pink Hello Kitty short socks and a red-ish hoodie with "Don't flatter yourself, I only look up to you because I'm short" printed on it in white. He was glad there was no underwear. If the clothes were anything to go by, they would have probably brought him pink boxers with the powerpuff girls on it.</p><p>Nico shot Reyna a look of betrayal.</p><p>"Hey don't look at me like that" Reyna said with her hands held up in front of her chest, "Jason got the clothes, I got the food." She motioned to the fast food sitting on Will's lap. Both of them had amused smiles on their faces. Traitors.</p><p>Nico directed his glare at the son of Jupiter.</p><p>"Oh come on Neeks, stop whining, I'm sure you'll rock the outfit" Jason said with a shit eating grin on his face.</p><p>"You're delusional if you think I'm wearing that Grace!" Nico bellowed.</p><p>"Fine then. Stay in the cloak" Jason challenged with a raised eyebrows, amusement still clear in his eyes.</p><p>Asshole.</p><p>Before the second giant war, Nico had always thought of Jason as a serious, goody two shoes demigod who ate duty for breakfast, honour for dinner and shitted gold. The demigod who everyone looked up to, who always knew what was right and wrong. Nico wasn't proud to admit it but he always saw Jason for <em>what</em> he was, never for <em>who </em>he was. The son of Jupiter, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion of Rome, Pride of the Fifth Cohort, Slayer of the Titan Krios, one of The Seven of the second Great Prophesy. <em>A true Hero</em>. All the things Nico wasn't.</p><p>It was only after the war ended and they become somewhat friends that he saw the unsure boy beneath the brave facade. The boy who was separated from his mother and sister when young, forced to shoulder many responsibilities and expectations just because he was a son of The Big Three. Scared of leading his friends to failure and making wrong decisions which could fuck up the fate of the whole world. Nico saw the repressed and struggling boy who never had a childhood because he was forced to grow up too fast. And he <em>related.</em></p><p>Their friendship grew stronger and Nico saw Jason for the little shit he was when he didn't have the stress of saving the whole world hanging over his head like a double edged sword.</p><p>Nico was proud of how far the son of Jupiter had come when he wasn't busy being pissed off at him and Percy for being absolute fucking idiots and spreading their "bro" filth around. Sometimes Nico thought <em>he</em> was the straightest amongst the sons of The Big Three.</p><p>With a huff to make his annoyance clear, Nico snatched the clothes from Jason's hand and made his way towards the horse stable he had slept in before his fight with Lycaon. It was connected to a horse renting service center where people rented horses to travel the woods nearby. Nico noticed how all the horses and mortals seemed to avoid the clearing the demigods were occupying. The mist was probably concealing it. And if any mortal saw a fourteen year old rushing into the stable half naked, then no one paid him any attention. Gods, he loved New York.</p><p>The hoodie Jason had brought him was two sizes too big on him and hung loosely around his wirey frame. Nico tucked the hem into his jeans so it barely grazed his upper thigh inside of dropping down to his mid thigh and folded the sleeves so it didn't cover his hands completely. It was warm and the fabric was soft to the touch. If he wasn't busy being a grouch queen he would've admitted that the clothes weren't all that bad, except for the quote on the shirt ofcourse. 5'6 wasn't <em>that </em>short okay? It wasn't his fault the rest of his friends were fucking lamp posts.</p><p>Looks like he's cursed to end quests only wearing ridiculous outfits.</p><p>With a sigh, he made his way back to the clearing. In reality he was really glad the three demigods had taken the news so well. Nico knew he wouldn't be able to handle it if these people he wasjust starting to consider his family abandoned him for being a werewolf. Their rejection would've been the last he would've needed before leaving both the camps for good. His wolf whined sadly in his chest at that thought.</p><p>The presence of the wolf in the back of his mind was unnerving but also weirdly calming. He wasn't used to someone having a back seat to his thought process and he almost jumped everytime he felt the wolf react to any of his thoughts. But at the same time, the wolf felt like a part of him. He didn't feel violated or threatened at the presence of the wolf. Infact it felt like he had been there the whole time, asleep, a dormant part of his conscience which has now woken up. No matter how unsettled he felt at the throught of being a lycanthrope, he couldn't bring himself to hate the wolf in the back of his mind.</p><p>__</p><p>The three half bloods looked up at him from where they had spread out the fast food, which Nico now noticed was McDonald's (seriously, Reyna was too good to be true).</p><p>Jason grinned and looked at the other two half bloods while pointing his arm at Nico's outfit, "See! I told you he could pull it off."</p><p>Reyna looked him over with an assessing gaze and nodded.</p><p>"Its better than the tropical shirt, I'll give you that."</p><p>Nico rolled his eyes as he made his way toward his black Stygian iron sword which was still lying in a swamp of his torn clothes in the center of the circle of death.</p><p>
  <em>They're taking this waayyy to seriously. </em>
</p><p>Everyone turned to look at the only one who hasn't passed his judgement yet. Will was looking at him with a weird look in his eyes which Nico couldn't place. He shifted on his feet nervously.</p><p>Will noticed the three pairs of eyes on him and cleared his throat, "A little colour looks good on you di Angelo"</p><p>And if Nico felt his heart flatter and his wolf make a happy noise in his chest, then the others didn't need to know.</p><p>"Thanks. Its passable I s'pose." Nico tried to sound nonchalant but he knew he failed terribly.</p><p>"Oh now he thinks the clothes are fine. I see how it is di Angelo." Nico's cheeks coloured against his will at Jason's teasing words.</p><p>Thankfully, Reyna offering him a tub of chicken nuggets saved him from the embarrassment.</p><p>They bickered and exchanged stories while they ate.</p><p>Reyna explained how she and Hazel were at camp discussing one of the programs with Chiron when they got his SOS. Apparently there was a fight between Percy, Hazel and the demigods with him right now to determine which three will have the pleasure of seeing him embarrass himself. Fun.</p><p>Sometime during listening to Jason narrate how seeing Jules Albert banging on the camp borders had scared the crap out of some new daughter of Aphrodite, Nico's eyes drifted to Will who was sitting directly across from him.</p><p>The son of Apollo was busy shoving down french fries, unaware of the sauce smeared on the edge of his lips which were shiny from salt and grease from the junk food. Nico was suddenly overwhelmed by the desire to lean and lick the salt off Will's lips. The thought made butterflies flatter in his stomach.</p><p>He didn't realise he had been staring at Will's lips until he looked up to see sky blue eyes piercing him with an intense look. Red coloured his cheeks at being caught staring as he dropped his gaze to the food in his lap but he couldn't stop himself from attempting to steal glances at the blond. It was like Will was a magnet and his eyes couldn't help but get drawn to him.</p><p>His breath caught in his throat as Will cought his eyes again but this time the healer smirked and <em>licked</em> the salt and sauce off his lips. Slowly, like he <em>wanted </em>Nico to see his tongue map every inch of those full lips. Nico felt only a little envious and a whole lot flustered as his eyes followed the trajectory of the pink muscle over Will's lips. All this while Will's intense blue eyes stayed fixed on Nico like he knew exactly what he was doing to him.</p><p>Thankfully, Reyna called for his attention before his mind could melt completely. He only half listened to her idea of how to make the exchange program between the camps more efficient, nodding absently whenever she looked at him while he tried to stop himself from replaying the visual of Will licking his lips sensually.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>_________</p>
</div><p> </p><p>"So, hate to acknowledge the elephant in the room, but what do we do now?" Reyna asked a little while after they were done eating and had disposed off the wrappers in a recycle bin.</p><p>Nico sighed. He was purposely avoiding thinking about that question. Mostly because he had no freaking idea.</p><p>"I don't know. I don't even know if I can cross camp's borders anymore."</p><p>"That's not an issue, if you can't we'll just let you in like Percy did with Tyson." Will replied.</p><p>"Do you think we should tell the other campers?" Jason asked.</p><p>Nico looked at Will hopefully, "Will said there have been other demigod lycanthropes before."</p><p>Will shifted nervously on his spot and avoided meeting his eyes.</p><p>"There have. But the last one was almost two centuries ago, I have no way of knowing how they were treated at camp."</p><p>The hope that was blooming in his chest died at that admission as his previous fear came back rushing.</p><p>"Oh." Nico said in a tiny voice.</p><p>"Times have changed Nico. And you have fought for the camps time and time again. I'm sure they will accept you as we did." Jason said. Protectiveness shining in his eyes.</p><p>Beside him Will nodded.</p><p>"Jason's right. You're one of us and I'm sure everyone at both the camps will agree with that."</p><p>"Exactly. And if anyone is stupid enough to have a problem with it then I can always knock them out as hard as it takes for them to come to their senses." Reyna added.</p><p>The two blonds nodded at her comment, the protectiveness mirrored in each of their eyes.</p><p>"I'm sure a shock or two would do the job just fine."</p><p>"And I wonder what will happen if the person doesn't get medical attention for a day or two after a fight with these two"</p><p>Listening to them warmed Nico's heart to the core. He had barely known these people for three - maximum four months, and yet here they were, ready to defend him like they've known eachother their whole lives.</p><p>At that moment, he wanted more than anything, to be strong enough to take their offer to tell the whole camp. But alas, the fear of rejection was too strong. Nico had felt rejected for <em>years.</em> Again and again by different people for different reasons.</p><p>First by Bianca, because he was too much of a responsibility, too much of a burden. Then by Minos, someone he had trusted to help him bring his sister back. The God of Wilderness Pan, in the labyrinth, when he'd addressed everyone but him, like he wasn't even there. His own father had told him he preferred Bianca over him because Nico wasn't good enough.</p><p>Then by Percy when he had asked Nico to stay in the underworld and convince Hades to join the war rather than accompany him to war. Nico knew he was wrong to trick Percy to visit his father. But he was desperate. And Percy didn't <em>understand. </em>He didn't understand what it was like to find out you had missed 70yrs, to remember nothing of your mother, Of having no one but a father who didn't even want you.</p><p>Nico knew he deserved it but seeing the distrust in Percy's eyes that day had  killed him a little inside. Because that day Percy was another person who didn't want him around. Atleast not if he could help it.</p><p>If that wasn't enough Nico had started feeling unwanted at camp for being a son of Hades only a few weeks after he'd found out Percy and Annabeth were dating. And don't even get him started on the mental torture he went through in Tarturus and that gods forsaken Jar.</p><p>So yes. He wanted to tell the camp about his new.... development. But the chains of fear were to thick to break. His whole body felt like it weigh several pounds at the thought of being unwanted at camp again, specially now that he's actually started to consider it as home.</p><p>"Nico?" He looked up at the call and realized he'd been too silent for too long.</p><p>Nico cleared his throat and swallowed, trying to dissolve the knot of emotions which had formed in his throat.</p><p>"...Do you...do you guys think you could maybe, keep this between us? For now." Nico said. The words felt too thick in his throat and his voice cracked a few times.</p><p>Jason sighed sadly, "I was afraid you'd say that."</p><p>"You know it's not true right?" Will said, staring at him with his arms folded across his chest.</p><p>"Know what's not true?"</p><p>"That you're a monster. Its not true Nico. Not at all. Don't believe even for a second that you are a monster. Because your not." The son of Apollo said with conviction.</p><p>Reyna nodded.</p><p>"Solace is right Nico, it's your actions which define you. Not your breed."</p><p>He didn't particularly think of himself as a monster. But sometimes his insecurities got the best of him. When he was locked in that jar for a week, everytime he broke out of his death trance to eat another seed he couldn't help but think maybe he wasn't worth saving. Sometimes when he wokes up alone from nightmares of Tarturus he thought he deserved the pain.</p><p>He knows it's not true. Mostly. Maybe. But sometimes the screams in his head are too deafening and the silence around him too loud.</p><p>"Monster is a relative term. There are mortals who are worse than any horrors in Greek mythology. Its your deeds that count. Chiron, Tyson, Mrs O'Leary, Ella...they are proof of that fact." Jason said with a fierce look on his face.</p><p>A smile threatened to tug at the corner of his lips and for once Nico let it show. He was getting better at that. Showing his emotions that is.</p><p>"I know. You're right, I don't think of myself as a monster..but I'm not ready  to tell people at camp. So till then, please keep it between us." Nico replied.</p><p>The three half bloods looked at each other, having a silent conversation before Will nodded.</p><p>"Okay. We'll stay quiet till you're more comfortable with the idea."</p><p>Nico didn't knew if he would ever be comfortable enough to tell anyone else about this. If he could ever be strong enough to let go of the fear of rejection ruling his heart. But he didn't voice that thought to the other demigods in the clearing. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Heyyy :D another chapter done! <br/>Tbh I don't really know how I feel about this one. Its...meh. I tried to add a few stuff but it wasn't working out so..yeah. ಠ_ಠ<br/>I promise things will move a lot faster from the next chapter though!! I just had the get this base of the fic out of the way before I started with the story you know? </p><p>But anyway, I hope you enjoyed it so far! :D <br/>Thankyou so much for 37 kudos ಥ‿ಥ I was expecting like 3 lol. Feel free to drop constructive criticism in the comments if you think it could help me improve my writing skills! :) </p><p>I hope you all stay safe and healthy!!! #BLM :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nico crossed the camp borders without a problem which was a relief because as soon as the four half bloods entered camp, Nico was tackled to the ground by a girl with wild curly hair and beautiful chocolate coloured skin. Hazel.</p><p>Nico let himself take comfort in her too-tight embrace as he buried his face in her curls and took in her warm caramel scent. Being around his sister always calmed him down.</p><p>He also picked up a few different scents on her, like Frank's Cologne, smell of wet horses and sugar. She  probably helped the Iris cabin wash the Pegasus.</p><p>Hazel bombarded him with questions as soon as they got off the ground.</p><p>"What happened?! Why did it take you so long! Who told you it was okay to scared me like that! And- oh my gods are you wearing colour?!"</p><p>Nico heard footsteps approaching them but didn't bother turning as the smell of sea water, leather, old books, ink, perfume and a few other minor scents gave him a pretty good idea about who all were approaching them. </p><p>Nico was just about to answer the last question when the son of Poseidon slapped him on the back and wide sea green eyes filled his vision.</p><p>"Oh my gods, is Neeks Wearing colour? What happened on the quest man! Did you find Neeks pastel twin named Larry?! Did he lose his memories?! Is there another war coming?....Holy Hades there better not be another war coming." Percy said in one breath while looking Nico up and down like he was actually worried they'd found Nico's pastel twin named Larry.</p><p>Nico facepalmed. He can't believe he ever had a crush on the son of Poseidon. Granted, Percy was no where nearly as dumb as he sometimes pretended to be, and he was overall a great guy and a true hero but he was sooo not Nico's type. He can't believe he'd let his hero worship of Percy get mixed up with his internalized homophobia and become a toxic burden he carried for so long.</p><p>He hadn't even thought of dating Percy before. The furthest he'd gone with his imagination was hand holding and maybe some platonic cuddling.</p><p>Nico forced himself not to think about Will Solace and how different he felt around him and focused on the conversation happening around him.</p><p>"No bro, don't worry I won't let you go to another war bro." Jason replied with a grin.</p><p>"I know you got my back bro." Percy replied, relief evident in his voice as he pulled Jason into one of those slap against the back bro hugs which definately lasted a lot longer than normal slap against the back hugs do.</p><p>Seriously, how are these two straight? Nico honestly doubted their sexualities but Piper and Annabeth, who had come with Percy, just rolled their eyes at their boyfriends antics and didn't look all that concerned so Nico didn't bother commenting on it.</p><p>Annabeth, Jason and Piper had decided to stay year round at camp this year since they had missed the majority of the school year because of the Gaia fisco anyway. Percy was also skipping school this year but unlike the rest he stayed with his mom Sally, who told everyone on Percy's birthday that she was pregnant, and his step dad Paul.</p><p>Jason travelled back and forth between the two camps to make shrines for all the minor gods and helping with the exchange program between the camps. Piper and Annabeth accompanied him sometimes if he was having trouble with a particular shine but not always as they had their own counselor duties to handle.</p><p>"If you two are done with your bromance," Annabeth said, to the two demigods <em>still </em>hugging, "We'd like to know what happened."</p><p>"Let's go to the Big House. I'm sure Chiron will want to know about it as well." Reyna reasoned.</p><p>They narrated the whole story to the half bloods and Chiron(who was in his wheelchair), excluding the bite.</p><p>"Woah, you fought Lycaon's whole pack alone? That's some great feat Nico." Annabeth said, impressed.</p><p>"Not really, I only survived because they weren't trying to kill me. Only weaken me enough so Lycaon could stand a chance even though he was weak." Nico replied, uncomfortable with the attention on him.</p><p>"Still dude. You fought the whole pack and defeated Lycaon without dying! That's great!" Percy replied with a grin.</p><p>It still surprised Nico when his heart didn't ache anymore at the site of Percy's smile.</p><p>"I still can't believe you're wearing colour. It looks good on you though!" Hazel exclaimed. Everyone laughed at Nico's scowl.</p><p>Nico thought they did a pretty good job of convincing everyone that everything was fine, but he started doubting that theory when Chiron stopped him just as all the demigods were leaving.</p><p>"Mister di Angelo, I wanted to thank you for insuring the celestial bronze reached camp safe and secure. The Hephaestus cabin have already started building weapons from it." Chiron said with a small smile.</p><p>"It was no problem Chiron....well, some problem, but I'm glad I could help." Nico said with a forced smile which probably looked more like a grimace.</p><p>Chiron smiled. "Ah yes, the.....problem." He continued with the kind smile still on his face, but Nico felt his stomach drop. What problems was Chiron talking about?</p><p>"Walk with me Nico." He said as he directed his wheelchair towards the strawberry fields. Nico followed him inspite of the dread pooling in his stomach. Did Chiron figure out he was bitten by Lycaon? Is this where he tells him its too dangerous to keep Nico at camp anymore?</p><p>"When Thalia's tree was poisoned before the second Titan war, I was the first suspect in the eyes of the gods because of who my father is." Nico wasn't around when the pine tree was poisoned but knew Kronos was Chiron's father.</p><p>"Do you know why I still ended up back at camp inspite of that, even though the gods knew Kronos was rising?" Chiron looked up at Nico, the kind smile not even a little dimmed.</p><p>"Ah...I've heard that Percy proved your innocence by tricking Luke to admit on an IM that he did it" Nico replied, unsure where this conversation was going.</p><p>"Yes he did. And do you know why he did it?" The centaur pushed further.</p><p>
  <em>Once a teacher, always a teacher.</em>
</p><p>"Because he knew you didn't do it?" Nico guessed.</p><p>"Close mister di Angelo, but no. Percy didn't know if I did it or not, he didn't have any solid proof except my own words. But he refused to believe even for a second that I <em>could</em> have. Because he trusted me, believed in me. As did the majority of the campers I have trained. Even a few gods like Dionysus, Lady Artemis, and Lady Hestia defended me, inspite of knowing I'm Kronos son." Chiron stopped moving and turned his wheelchair so he was directly facing Nico.</p><p>They were in the middle of the strawberry fields now. The sweet smell of the fruit was so strong in Nico's now extra sensitive nose that he staggered a little and had to actively try to not focus on it. Nico saw a confirmation flash in Chiron's eyes at the slight hitch in Nico's composure before the kind smile came back with full force.</p><p>Did Chiron lead Nico to the fields to confirm his suspicion that he might be a werewolf? And if he did then what's it got to do with Thalia's tree poisoning? Thankfully, he didn't have to think about that for long because Chiron continued.</p><p>"My point, mister di Angelo, is that your lineage and your DNA does not matter when it comes to people you consider your own. As long as your loyalties lie with them, all your friends will support you and love you for who you are, no matter what titles you hold. You will find that applies to a lot of things." Chiron summed up. His eyes not leaving Nico's for even a second.</p><p>Nico didn't know how to react to that. He liked Chiron well enough, but he had never had a one-on-one conversation with him, in fact Nico kind of thought that the centaur just tolerated him being at camp. It was his default setting to avoid disappointment. Now, To have the camp director tell Nico that he could trust them to support him for who he is....it warmed Nico's heart for the centaur and gave him hope.</p><p>"Why are you telling me this Chiron." Nico asked.</p><p>The centaur smiled at the son of Hades. "Because I'm your trainer child. And as your trainer, it is my duty to teach you lessons you need to learn."</p><p>Nico's fondness grew. Even his wolf, who he could feel paying rapt attention throughout this conversation, mellowed out and gave a happy whine. The werewolf couldn't help but smile genuinely at his trainer while trying to blink out the tears threatening to make themselves known.</p><p>Nico never took acts of kindness towards him lightly. After being mistreated by so many, If someone treated Nico with kindness, he would willingly go to war for them. That day, standing in the strawberry fields with his trainer, Nico felt the chains of fear around his heart loosen a little from Chiron's silent acceptance. The thoughts of "I could never" changed into "maybe someday". Nico decided that he understood why Percy went to such long length to clear Chiron's name. If need be in the future, Nico would do the same in a heartbeat.</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>________</p>
</div><p> </p><p>The next few days passed in a blur as the Roman's left for camp Jupiter and Nico got used to being a werewolf.</p><p>As wolves were nocturnal animals, Nico felt restless during most nights as his wolf growled at him to shift and go hunting in the woods.</p><p>His sleeping schedule was a mess as he slept around 3-4AM and woke up in the late morning or around noon.</p><p>His friends kept hush about him being a werewolf which was a relief even though they had a few close calls.</p><p>He read all the books the camp had on werewolves even though half of them painted them as evil.</p><p>Nico tried his best to not let those books affect him but sometimes doubt clouded his mind. What if the books were true and werewolves were evil? His wolf didn't feel evil, but what if Nico shifted and his wolf went homicidal?</p><p>The texts about the previous demigod Lycanthropes were the most useful.</p><p>The first thing Nico learnt was the presence of 'his wolf' as he'd taken to calling it, was actually his own conscience, only part wolf. Whatever reactions he subconsciously felt in his mind were his own wolf instincts depicting how he would've reacted if he were a full blooded wolf.</p><p>Though <em>that</em> information boggled his mind to the moon and back so he decided to just continue refering to the feral instincts as 'his wolf'.</p><p>The demigods who were born with it didn't feel a separate part of their conscience like Nico did but he figured that was because they had the part wolf conscience since birth while Nico had developed his only recently.</p><p>Secondly, because of the godly blood still running in his veins he could still use his powers and consume godly food, however unlike the rest of the campers, he could not push his limits with it's intake.</p><p>To his immense relief, he also found a text clarifying that since ichor, the blood of immortals, was a lot stronger than the lycanthropy gene, he would not dissolve into dust on death. Least he dies, his soul was still earmarked for the underworld.</p><p>Up till now the possibility of going back to Tarturus weighed on his mind like a ton of bricks. Everyday he had terrible nightmares of dissolving into monster dust and going back to the horros of Tarturus. Nico could barely stopped himself from having panic attacks everytime he read about Lycanthropes going to Tarturus after being killed. But now, sitting in the refurbished Hades cabin, dressed in his comfortable dark clothes and finding that his soul was still on the gods side of the spectrum, Nico felt lighter than feathers.</p><p>Light enough that when he heard footsteps he recognised as Jason's he didn't bother waiting for the blond to knock before opening the door and throwing his arms around the taller boy.</p><p>"Hey-aayyy man!" The son of Jupiter exclaimed in surprise as he caught the son of Hades in his arms to prevent both on them from toppling over.</p><p>"I was just coming to get you for dinner.... You seem happy?" Nico hummed and nuzzled a little into the blond's neck before pulling back.</p><p>Jason and the few campers nearby looked shocked at the display of affection and Nico couldn't blame them. It wasn't like him to initiate touches, much less hugging and nuzzling.</p><p>Recently he had weird urges to cuddle and scent his friends. He had a suspicion it had something to do with him connecting more with his wolf. After all, wolves were affectionate creatures who liked to show affection through touches and body language. Mostly Nico suppressed those weird urges, but right now he was just too happy to care as he grinned up at his blond friend who honestly looked a little worried about Nico's health.</p><p>"I'm happy because I just found out I won't be going back to Tarturus Jay!" Nico said with a giddy sounding chuckle.</p><p>Realisation crossed Jason's features before a smile took its place. "I'm glad Neeks. We wouldn't have let you go back there anyway." The duo exchanged a smile before they heard a familiar voice exclaim in outrage behind them.</p><p>"Hey! Why is it that Jason gets all the free hugs but when I ask for them you just roll your eyes and call me an idiot?!" They both turned to see Percy stomping towards them with an offended look on his face.</p><p>"This is not fair!" He said as he reached the other two sons of the Big Three and pointed an accusatory finger at Nico, "I demand that you hug me right now or I swear I won't share any of my blue food with you on Christmas-"</p><p>The two demigods exchanged a look before cutting Percy's rant short by pulling him in a group hug.</p><p>Nico felt his wolf roll around in happiness at the affectionate embrace between the three friends. Nico knew he would feel embarrassed about hugging the two demigods later but healso knew his wolf had accepted his friends as packmates so, for now, he let himself soak up the affection. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I love Chiron :')<br/>Istg I tried to write some angst and Chiron jumped on me like.....<br/>Me: let's get some angst in here<br/>Chiron: *coughs* Hello Darkness my old friend<br/>Me: .........no.<br/>Chiron: too late. </p><p>¯\_(ツ)_/¯ blame him for how sappy this chapter got </p><p>Next chapter: solangelooo </p><p>I hope you enjoyed it! :D<br/>Thankyou for the kudos (｡ﾉω＼｡) y'all are the bessttttt &lt;3 </p><p>I hope you stay healthy and happy! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nico's eyes immediately darted towards the Apollo table in search for a certain healer as the three demigods entered the dining pavilion.</p><p>Nico has avoided hanging out alone with Will Solace ever since thoughts of kissing the blond entered his mind. </p><p>He didn't know what to do with his sudden desire to be close to the blond. To press his body against his and feel his warm hands on his skin. His heart skipped a beat everytime he caught sight of the blond strutting around  camp in his stupid outfit of a surgeon shirt paired with jeans and hideous looking crocs.</p><p>His wolf didn't make things any better as it constantly tried to get Nico to court Will. Whenever he was on strawberry picking duty it growled at him to pick a few for Will, whenever he crossed the infirmary it goad him to visit him, at nights it whined at him to shift and get a kill for Will. It was maddening to say the least.</p><p>"Looking for someone?" Jason said with a teasing smile as the three burned a portion of their meals for the gods and situated themselves around the table they had dubbed as 'The Big Three table'. The Poseidon and Hades table had been turned into the Hecate and Nemesis table to accommodate more campers. </p><p>Nico's appetite for meat had increased since he shifted. It wasn't abnormally high, not even enough for him to get fat with his training schedule, but definitely more than he ate before. Jason had once jokingly commented "Aw eat up Neeks, you're eating for two now" while wiping fake tears from his eyes and Nico had almost skewered him with his sword.</p><p>"No." Nico deadpanned at Jason's previous comment.</p><p>"What? Who? What did I miss?" Percy questioned. He had come to camp for a week while his mom and Paul went on a small educational trip with Paul's class.</p><p>"Nothing!" Nico tried to assert. Though the blush slowly creeping up on his face probably ruined his efforts.</p><p>"Our head medic bro" Jason answered while discreetly pointing at the Apollo table with his head.</p><p>Percy being <em>Percy,</em> totally fucked any chances they had at being discreet by looking at the Apollo table and  exclaiming loudly, "Will Solace?!" Then, in a quieter tone, "That's your type?! Damn, you have good taste in men di Angelo, though my bro Jason is hotter."</p><p>Nico deserves a gold medal for not maiming the two idiots currently going in for another one of their bro hugs. The only reason he didn't <em>atleast</em> threw his plate at the tactless son of Poseidon was the aforementioned healer heading towards their table on his gorgeous long legs- <em>Woah noo, bad thoughts, go away. </em></p><p>"Hey, everything alright?" Will asked in his musical voice as he reached their table.</p><p>Even at night, his smile seemed as bright as sunshine while the freckles dusting his face looked like stars in the night sky. He still had his surgeon shirt on, meaning he was either on lockup duty or just ended his shift. The shirt clung tightly to his well built chest and biceps which Nico definitely <em>did</em> <em>not </em>notice.</p><p>"Uhh...I heard someone calling my name?" Will specified further when the three occupants of the table just stared at him blankly.</p><p>"Nico was feeling chest pain!" Percy said at the same time Jason replied "Nico was missing you!" while Nico himself managed a very eloquent "Uhh....."</p><p>Will looked at Nico with a mixture of concern, amusement and something else in his sky blue eyes which Nico at the moment didn't have enough braincells to place.</p><p>"You were feeling chest pain while missing me?" Will arched an eyebrow. "You know you could've just talked to me like a normal person right?" He said with his arms crossed against his chest. It was all Nico could do not to stare at his biceps.</p><p>"Yeah...I, uh...you were busy?" He cursed himself internally when his answer came out sounding like a question.</p><p>"Hmm sure" Will said with narrowed eyes, clearly not buying his bullshit.</p><p>"Really!" Nico insisted, trying to protect the little bit of dignity he had left. Off to the side Percy and Jason snickered.</p><p>
  <em>That's it, I'm flooding their cabins with bones. </em>
</p><p>"Well then, you're in luck Death boy!" Will exclaimed with a smirk which totally did not do things to Nico's heart. Ofcourse not.</p><p>"I have the lockup shift and you're helping me sort out the medical cabinet since the infirmary is blissfully empty today."</p><p>Wait.</p><p>No.</p><p>No no no no no no</p><p>Abort mission ABORT MISSION</p><p>The 'medical cabinet' was a small closet sized room with shelves against every wall used to stock their medical equipment. Nico was <em>not </em>qualified to spend alone time with Will in that small as fuck room. Nope. Nada. Not happening.</p><p>However, Will didn't wait long enough to witness Nico try to stutter out some lame excuse which he was both glad and unhappy about.</p><p>"Be there after dinner or I'm gonna drag your ass there myself" Will casually threw over his shoulder as he made his way back to his table.</p><p>Dumbstruck, Nico looked back at his still snickering tablemates. </p><p>"Shut up" Nico hissed as he threw a piece of chicken at them but that only made them laugh louder.</p><p>"You should've seen your face" Percy said between gasp, practical falling on Jason. "Oh gods, man you got it bad!"</p><p>"Says the guy who thinks he's straight." Nico grumbled.</p><p>"Hey! I am straight." Percy replied. Hades, how oblivious could someone be?</p><p>Annabeth and Piper slid into the table besides their boyfriends. They probably saw the ruckus around their table and decided to intervene before somebody lost any limbs.</p><p>Nico's disbelief must have shown on his face because Percy turned towards his girlfriend and, for lack of a better word, whined.</p><p>"Annabeth, tell Nico I'm straight!"</p><p>Annabeth didn't skip a beat and looked Nico in the eye, "Excuse him, he's a little slow."</p><p>Gods, he loved that girl.</p><p>Everyone around the table laughed at the dumbfounded look on Percy's face.</p><p>"I am!" He insisted. Even Jason didn't bother siding with him on this.</p><p>"Sure seaweed brain. And I'm the stereotypical dumb blond." Annabeth said while twirling a strand of her blond locks with one finger and widening her eyes to impersonate a 'dumb' look.</p><p>"Name one guy I was gay for." Percy challenged.</p><p>Annabeth casually looked him in the eye and pulled out the receipts as she counted on her fingers.</p><p>"Luke, Beckendorf and Jason"</p><p>Beside him Jason chocked on his chicken while Piper laughed.</p><p>"Oh quit it, you airnt as straight as you like to pretend either and you know it" Piper told Jason flippantly as his face coloured.</p><p>And with that Nico left the bickering couples to go give himself a pep talk about how <em>not</em> to embarrass himself in front of Will Solace after dinner.</p><p> </p><p></p><div>
  <p>________</p>
</div><p> </p><p>Nico entered the infirmary after dinner to find it empty. The rest of the campers were strolling around camp as the counselors tried to collect everyone to lead them to the singalongs.</p><p>Just as he was about to snatch the opportunity and bolt for the door his wolf huffed in contentment as Will's pleasing scent of spices and sunflowers reached his nose and the anticipated son of Apollo entered the room looking fine as always.</p><p>"Hey you're here" Will grinned, "I was half expecting to drag you here kicking and screaming."</p><p>Nico felt his face flush as Will looked him up and down, dragging his eyes slowly over Nico's body.</p><p>Nico's appearance had improved a lot since he'd decided to stay at camp. Between Will's consistent bitching about Nico's nutritional intake and hours of sparring with Clarisse, he had lost the malnourished look and adopted a more 'skinny in a well-toned wiry muscular kind of way' look. His skin was still pale but not paper-y white or translucent, his hair were still unruly and a lost case but they felt less greasy and looked less like he'd just crawled out of a den which Nico counted as a win. Even his face had filled out a little, making his eyes look less sunken and his cheekbones and jaw more chiseled.</p><p>But right now, dressed in a dark grey full sleeves Henley he'd borrowed from Percy tucked into his black skinny ripped jeans and combat boats, Nico felt weirdly self conscious of his appearance.</p><p>He cleared his throat and attempted to look unaffected by the blond's gaze as he scoffed in disbelief.</p><p>"As if Solace. Last time I checked, you were the one who came in late."</p><p>"Ah, sorry 'bout that, I had to remind Kayla to lead my cabin to the campfire 'coz I'm on duty." Will said as he averted his gaze and focused on straightening some creases from the bed closest to him.</p><p>Nico felt his knees weaken a little at the hint of a southern accent Will had let slip. Frankly, Nico thought it was really freaking rude of Will to constantly ruin all his attempts to keep his shit together around the blond.</p><p>"Okay, should we start cleaning?" Nico asked, trying to sound nonchalant.</p><p>"In a minute" Will said before patting the bed he had been tending to, "Hop on here first."</p><p>"What, why? I'm fine." Nico said taken aback.</p><p>"Percy said you felt chest pain?" Will asked with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>
  <em>Dammit Jackson. </em>
</p><p>Nico said the first thing that came to his mind. "Its just because my wolf is feeling restless to shift. I couldn't really say that in front of Percy so I lied about the chest pain."</p><p>It wasn't a complete lie, his wolf <em>had </em>been feeling restless to shift. Only, Nico had never talked about it with Percy. The son of Poseidon had made that comment in front of Will just to piss him off.</p><p>"Oh" Will said with a thoughtful expression. "You know, if you want I can come over to the Hades cabin while you shift. I'll make sure no one comes inside or suspects anything." Will uttered while nibbling on his lower lip nervously.</p><p>"Oh, you don't have to Will, I don't want to trouble you...."</p><p>"No! I want to Nico. I'm really proud of how far you've come to accept your identity. If there is anything I can do to help smoothen that path, then I want to help." Will said with conviction.</p><p>Nico's Chest felt incredibly warm at the suggestion but he was still hesitant to accept the offer.</p><p>Truth be told, Nico was nervous to shift in front of the son of Apollo because he'd noticed his wolf was a slut for Will's attention.</p><p>He was worried if he let his wolf out in front of the tall blond, he'd do something embarrassing like roll over asking for belly rubs while wagging his tail at the speed of light or just outright hump Will's leg.</p><p>The son of Apollo could by mistake step on his Wolf's tail and he'd probably still roll over and whine a thanks to him and then Nico will have to move to a different city with a new name and identity which he seriously wanted to avoid. The paperwork was hell.</p><p>Finally, Will's puppy dog eyes won over his conflicting thoughts as he sighed in defeat. "Fine."</p><p>Nico kept his face expressionless as Will whooped and approached him before asking, "So, are we cleaning or what?"</p><p>"Right this way your highness" Will, that cheeky little bastard, said with a dramatic bow while pointing in the direction of the closet.</p><p>___</p><p>"Woah, how do you manage to find anything in here" Nico said as he saw just how messy the storage closet was.</p><p>Will heaved a sigh as he entered the small room.</p><p>"Yeah, it's been a while since I took the lockup shift and none of my siblings stock the cabinet correctly which pisses me off so...." Will shrugged instead of completing the sentence.</p><p>The closet was a mess of bottles, jars, tubes and bandages. Some of the bottles were open and leaking into the racks below them, while some were just thrown around in a half-assed manner. Bandages unfurled down one of the shelves from an upturned box and a lot of weird looking equipment was shoved against a corner haphazardly.</p><p>"Well, don't just stand there looking pretty, come on in!" Will told him over his shoulder.</p><p>Nico tried not to react too much to Will calling him pretty. (It's<em> just a phrase di Angelo, get over it.) </em>And braced himself to survive tidying up the closet at such close proximity with his crush.</p><p>Momentarily Nico entertained the idea of shadow traveling the fuck away from here but scrapped it almost instantly. No matter how worried he was about making a fool of himself around Will, he truly did missed spending time with him. Will was sarcastic and witty and refused to take any of Nico's bullshit which he admired quite a lot. Plus, if his wolf's determination to court the blond by proving his worth was anything to go by, if he shadowtravelled away now, it would probably throw a major temper tantrum and won't relent till Nico grovelled for forgiveness at Will's feet.</p><p>With another mental sigh for good measures, Nico entered the small room beside Will.</p><p>"Atta boy! Was that so hard?" Will asked him teasingly.</p><p>"Shut it Solace. Tell me what to do"</p><p>Will gave him instructions to sort out the shelf with the unfurled bandages as both of them worked while bickering occasionally.</p><p>__</p><p>"Why do you even need so many ointments and mortal medicines" Nico huffed as he sorted like the 100th box of cream for burns. (It was probably just the second but Nico was allowed to complain, sue him.)</p><p>Will chuckled. "Have you <em>seen</em> how insane and hyperactive demigods are? The Ares and Hephaestus campers are in for something or the other <em>atleast</em> three times a week. Like hell I'm healing them myself everyday when they can't get it through their thick skulls to practice safety measures."</p><p>__</p><p>"You know you can avoid all this hell if you just let your siblings deal with this but noooo, you <em>have</em> to be an organized control freak."</p><p>"Take that back, I am not a control freak!"</p><p>__</p><p>"Woahhh! You can't keep all the equipments there without sterilising them first Death boy! What, were you raised by wolves?!"</p><p>"Haha, very funny Solace, how long did it take you to come up with that?"</p><p>__</p><p>Nico felt electric sparks shoot down his spine everytime they bumped into eachother or touched accidentally and they did that <em>alot </em>thanks to the compact space. However, he got assurance in the fact that Will wasn't as unaffected by their proximity as he was pretending to be.</p><p>Every once in awhile Nico caught an audible gulp or a hitched breath when they touched. Nico noticed the slight spike in the blond's heartbeat when Nico tripped on a bandage and knocked into him or how Will's body temperature rose a little when their sides brushed together lightly. Gods, never has he been so thankful for his improved senses.</p><p>Hopeful that <em>maybe </em>Will felt the same way, Nico stopped being too careful about staying out of his personal space. He occasionally leaned towards the blond to look how he was arranging something to copy the pattern, or placed his hand on his shoulder to ask him where to put something, brushing along his sides as he crossed to room to get the rest of the bottles which will go on the shelf he was arranging.</p><p>Everytime he felt Will react to his touch, Nico's heart soared in his chest. His heart was beating so fast he could feel his heartbeat in his neck while his knees felt shaky.</p><p>Before the two kept bickering while arranging but now the air felt to heavy with tension.</p><p>Then things went very very wrong, or very very right (depending on the prospective). Nico crossed the room looking for the cap of the bottle of disinfectant in his hand when Will grabbed his arm with the bottle and pulled the raven towards him. Surprised at the unexpected grip, Nico's arm jerked forcefully and the whole content of the uncapped bottle flew on Will's shirt, soaking the fabric completely.</p><p>"Shit" Will exclaimed as he tried to hold the wet fabric away from his chest while waving off Nico's apologies.</p><p>"Its alright, I shouldn't have startled you that way. It's just, you were gonna step on that pile of bandages I set on the floor."</p><p>Whatever response Nico had in mind got stuck in his throat as he choked on his breath.</p><p>"What are you doing?!" He exclaimed in a high pitch as Will continued to unbutton his surgeon shirt before taking it off completely.</p><p>"Relax, I didn't want to smell like alcohol so I took it off. I have a spare somewhere in my office, don't worry." Will said as he used the dry part of the discarded shirt to wipe the residue of the spill from his naked skin.</p><p>Nico barely registered those words as his eyes drank in the sight of the blond's sculpted chest. Tan honey gold skin running over toned pecs and the slight defination of a six pack along with two rather nice looking biceps.</p><p>Nico distantly remembers Will mentioning he played a lot of sports at camp including volleyball, basketball and soccer. <em>And boi did those sports pay off</em>, the son of Hades thought absently.</p><p>
  <em>Gods, I want my tongue on that chest.</em>
</p><p>Nico's face felt incredibly hot as that thought registered him his mind. Gods, what was happening to him? Nico never thought such things about <em>anyone. </em>And yet his eyes stayed glued to Will's chest. He gulped audibly as he resisted the urge to place his hands on the son of Apollo's naked skin. His blood felt hot in his veins and his heart beat so hard he was worried Will could hear it.</p><p>Its not like he hadn't seen boys shirtless before. He had seen quite a lot of naked chests while training at camp, he even admitted mentally that some of them looked really nice. But never has seeing a boy shirtless made him totally lose his shit like this. Never has seeing a boy shirtless ignited such desire in him.</p><p>"Like what you see di Angelo?" With difficulty Nico tore his eyes from the naked abdomen to look into Will's very pleased looking eyes.</p><p>Embarrassed at being caught staring so shamelessly Nico tried to create some distance between them and promptly ended up tripping on the very pile of bandages which had started this whole ordeal.</p><p>Classic. Remind him to burn those bandages later.</p><p>Arms flailing, Nico braced himself for impact but none came. Instead, tanned arms wrapped around his waist, catching him mid fall. His own arms gripped the son of Apollo's naked shoulders as Will straighten them up and pulled Nico towards himself.</p><p>Absently Nico wondered when the fuck his life became such a cliché as his breath stuttered on his next exhale.</p><p>
  <em>Oh mio Dios.</em>
</p><p>Will was close. <em>So close. </em>Ever nerve in his body ignited with heat, itching to close the small column of air between them as he stared into Will's ocean deep eyes, shining with an emotion he didn't know how to place. Nico took a deep breath trying to get his brain to work again but that backfired when the smell of the spilled disinfectant filled his nose and reminded him that Will was still shirtless and Nico's hands were resting on his smooth naked shoulders.</p><p>He tried to step back but Will followed his retreat, his grip on Nico's waist not relenting even for a second until his back touched the shelf behind him with Will caging him in. Nico might be imagining it but Will looked almost....hungry as he looked down at Nico. With a boost of confidence the raven moved his hands.</p><p>The air between them seemed charged with tension as Nico slowly slid his arms from around Will's shoulders, feeling the warm skin under his palms till one of his hands gripped the blond's bicep while the other rested on his pec. He swallowed as Will's eyes darkened and he leaned <em>closer.</em></p><p>Nico could feel Will's hard exhales against his lips as he moved his right hand over Nico's body, burning a path across his skin even thou <em>Will </em>was the one shirtless, untill his warm hand rested on the nape of his neck causing a shiver to go through the raven's body.</p><p>Will's dark eyes seem to pierce his soul as everything that wasn't <em>Will Will Will </em>faded from his mind. They were so close now that their noses brushed lightly against eachother.</p><p>Nico's breath hitched as Will's eyes disconnected from his, only to dart down to his lips before looking back at him, the question clear in them as they darted back to his lips again. Nico licked his lips subconsciously and Will's eyes darkened even further, his thumb rubbing small circles into the raven's neck.</p><p>
  <em>Fuck it. </em>
</p><p>Nico thought as he tilted his head lightly and closed his eyes as he felt Will lean in to close the distance between them complet-</p><p>
  <em>THUMP!</em>
</p><p>They both sprung apart with red faces at the loud noise from the front of the infirmary.</p><p>The two demigods stared at each other embarrassedly for a while. Nico felt like disappearing into one of the shadows of the closet but he doubted he'd land anywhere close to where he wanted with how fried his brain felt.</p><p>Another angry noise from the front of the infirmary sprung them into motion as Nico went to inspect what the noises were about and Will went into his office to find his spare shirt.</p><p>Nico entered the main treatment area to find a fuming Clarisse standing next to an abolished cot.</p><p>She smelled like the campfire and had a murderous expression on her face as she glared down at the now broken bed.</p><p>"What did that bed ever do to you." Nico asked, thoroughly unimpressed.</p><p>Clarisse looked up and the rage in her eyes dimming a little as she looked at him in confusion. "What are you doing in the infirmary at this hour di Angelo, isn't this Solace's shift?"</p><p>Nico's cheeks flushed against his will at the healer's name but he pretended he didn't notice it as he answered "I was helping him set up the medical cabinet. He's-"</p><p>"-here!" Will completed his sentence as he came from the back wearing a new surgeons shirt.</p><p>"Aah, Clarisse. Always a sight for soar eyes" the son of Apollo said sarcastically, displeasure clear in his eyes.</p><p>Nico's heart flattered at the thought of Will being annoyed at the daughter of Ares for interrupting their- <em>their almost kiss. </em></p><p>Holy freaking Zeus.</p><p>They were about to kiss. Will was about to kiss him. On the lips. Will would've kissed Nico on the lips if Clarisse hadn't interrupted them. Nico's wolf growled in annoyance at the daughter of Ares at that.</p><p>"I hope you know I'm making you fix that bed by the way" Nico snapped back to attention at Will's comment.</p><p>It was because of moments like these Nico never understood why everyone thought of Will as this always smiling, always happy sunshine-y Son of Apollo who was incapable of feeling any negative emotions.</p><p>Sure Will was a lot more level headed than most and his training as a combat medic helped him stay calm when everyone else was freaking out, but he wasn't this ball of sunshine who never got mad or who took people's bullshit. No, if someone crossed Will the wrong way the son of Apollo could get downright stingy.</p><p>Nico had seen that during the War with Gaia when the healer had stood up to Octavain and then again two months ago when the Stolls had went to far with a prank and a nine year old daughter of Demeter had gotten seriously injured. Having a backbone and still being nice to everyone until given a reason to act otherwise was one of the qualities of the blond that the son of Hades admired.</p><p>Clarisse rolled her eyes and muttered a "Whatever" under her breath.</p><p>Will took a deep breath to compose himself as Nico felt his own irritation flair.</p><p>"What do you want Clarisse. Did you punch someone unconscious again? Break someone's bones? Or did you break one of yours. Again."</p><p>The rage returned in Clarisse eyes but Will didn't even bother flinching at it. Seriously. Neither Nico's glares, nor Clarisse's anger.... Did anything shake this guy?</p><p>"Jackson was being way to smug at the sing along today, I want that son of a bitch down." Clarisse growled, "Capture the flag next monday, Ares vs Poseidon. I came to tell you you're on my team Solace."</p><p>Will stared at her for a while before pinching the bridge on his nose.</p><p>"Let me get this straight. You barged into my infirmary, broke one of my cots, and ruined ou- " Will cut himself off with an annoyed huff but Nico completed that sentence in his mind, <em>our kiss. </em></p><p>"To tell me about a game, which isn't even for another <em>five </em>days, just because you got into a stupid cat fight with Percy."</p><p>"Yeah. Why're you acting so pissy about it Solace, you've never complained before. And what was that you were gonna say before you cut yourself off?" Clarisse said with narrowed eyes.</p><p>Will rolled his eyes. "I'm just pissed you broke one of my beds. You <em>do </em>realise I have to come up with an excuse to explain this to Chiron right?"<br/><br/>Clarisse just shrugged as if to say 'sounds like a you problem to me' before directing her calculating gaze at the son of Hades.</p><p>"Hey Death breath, you wanna join my team?" She asked with a bob of her chin in his direction.</p><p>"Oh. So he gets a choice but I don't? I see how it is." Will grumbled.</p><p>The only response the daughter of Ares gave was a roll of her eyes as she looked at Nico expectantly.</p><p>"Depends. Is Jason on Percy's side?" Usually that was a given but after today's discovery at dinner Nico mused the two may be awkward with eachother.</p><p>Clarisse gave an annoyed huff and said with distaste, "Yeah. The two idiots were acting really weird at the campfire tonight but they're on the same team."</p><p>Nico grinned. "Brilliant. Then I'll join your team on one condition."</p><p>Both Clarisse and Will stared at him critically.</p><p>"What."</p><p>"Never call me Death breath again."</p><p>Clarisse grinned at him. "Done deal Zombie dude."</p><p>"Wait a minute, that's not any better!" Nico exclaimed but the daughter of war wasn't listening anymore as she made her way out of the infirmary, probably to bully the rest of the cabins to join her team. The audacity.</p><p>Unfortunately, that left the two demigods in a very uncomfortable silence.</p><p>"Ahem, uhh...I think I've helped enough. I'm sure you'll be able to sort out the rest of the shelves on your own....I should get going." Nico said as he walked backwards towards the door Clarisse had walked through.</p><p>"No....Nico wait...!" Will tried to say but Nico turned tail and ran out of the infirmary.</p><p>In his father's name, what the fuck was his life.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Some solangelo as promised :D I hope you enjoyed it!! </p><p>A few things: <br/>Percy is bi-curious and you cannot convince me otherwise.</p><p>I don't understand why most of the fics make Will seem like all he does is stay in the infirmary. Like yes, I get that he's the head medic, but he's also a counselor and a son of Apollo. Throughout the pjo and HoO series it was mentioned many times that the Apollo cabin were sport jocks and loved to play around. Hence I refuse to believe that Will spends his whole time in the infirmary just because he doesn't have any other power. </p><p>Last: I always liked Clarisse cutthroat personality and how she developed in the books. I have a feeling her and Will would have one of those hate-love friendships.</p><p>That's it :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! Let me know what you think in the comments :D I love reading them and they give me motivation to improve my writing skills &lt;3 </p><p>Stay safe and healthy! Fuck Corona.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nico woke up rutting against his bedsheets while moaning into his pillow. As soon as that registered in his mind over the haze of pleasure, he sprung up from his mattress hastily,  almost falling on his face in the process.</p><p>He tried to get his brain to do its fucking job and <em>think</em> but it was too busy trying to process the faint memories of his already fading dream.<br/>
Smooth tan skin under his hands and lips, deep moans in his ears, dilated sky blue eyes and flushed freckled cheeks looking up at him in pleasure.</p><p>
  <em>Oh mio Dios. </em>
</p><p>He looked down at himself in horror to see his boxers tented and a dark wet spot forming at the tip of his cock.</p><p>
  <em>Oh mio Dios ×2 </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Shit shit shit, holy fuck, this was not supposed to happen!</em>
</p><p>Nico thought hysterically as he gripped his hair in frustration. His cock throbbed in his boxers, impossibly hard. Nico has had minor erections here and there including the minor one he got when Will touched his bite mark but he always ignored them till they went away on their own.</p><p>However, he's never had an erection <em>this</em> hard. Nor has he ever had less than innocent dreams about anyone.</p><p>Sexual intimacy was a topic Nico avoided almost as much as he avoided thinking about Bianca. It was mostly because he didn't really understand it. Between the mess of getting him and Bianca into the Lotus casino and the whole demigod business, Nico had never really received proper sex ed. Sure, thanks to his one year at the Westover Academy he had a faint idea about how things worked between a male and a female during.....the act. But that was about it.</p><p>He didn't understand how something like that could be pleasurable for the females. Males sure, he could understand that to....some extent but the female? No freaking clue. It made him fell self-conscious that he didn't understand something most of his own age-group population did, but he didn't know how to approach that topic with anyone.</p><p>Nico faintly remembers a nun at his former Catholic school back in the 1930s telling him that feeling lust towards someone was a sin and masterbation i.e. pleasuring yourself caused insanity and a bunch of other nasty diseases.</p><p>Is that it? Has Nico finally gone insane? Is that why he's thinking about Will....like that?</p><p>Truth be told, Nico didn't really believe in what the nuns had taught him for a variety of reasons.</p><p>First, he knew a lot has changed with time. When Minos had told him he was 70 years in the future, Nico thought the ghost was bullshitting him until he saw the date on a newspaper. Then he proceeded to freak out.</p><p>Second, he wasn't even Catholic. He was the son of a Greek God for fucks sake.</p><p>And lastly, the most prominent one, the nuns had also told him homosexuality was wrong. A sin. A mental illness. A disorder. And that had fucked up Nico in more ways than one. The majority of his internalized homophobia budded from that belief which was planted in his head when young.</p><p>Some of his memories had started returning when he found what had happened to his mother. Very few of them were of his mamma or Bianca, which was something that <em>still </em>pissed him off. Just his luck he remembers shitty lessons which fuck with his head rather than his mother's smile.</p><p>So, no. He didn't really believe in what the nuns had taught him. Not entirely. But that didn't rule out the fact that he got incredibly awkward everytime a conversation took a sexual turn, or blushed a bright red if he so much as witnessed kisses which were a little more heated than what was appropriate for public. (Mostly Connor and Mitchell. Those two <em>seriously</em> need to learn how to be discreet. )</p><p>Before Will, Nico had only ever thought of light innocent pecks on the lips with Percy and <em>maybe </em>kissing him someday but nothing more than that. He didn't even <em>know </em>what two males could do together, surely they couldn't do it like....like a male and a female did. He knew how masterbation worked even though he's never dared to try it till date....could two men do that together? Was that even allowed?</p><p>He <em>was </em>curious to know. He wanted to know how things worked between two men, even though the mere thought of kissing Will sent all kinds of pleasant tingles down to the very tips of his toes.</p><p>Nico looked down again and noted with a little relief that all these thoughts about his former school had managed to er- solve his problem downstairs. He still felt frustrated and a little sensitive but he ignored that as he went to freshen up.</p><p>__</p><p>It was almost 12:45pm by the time Nico was dressed in his usual black attire so the son of Hades made his way towards the dining pavilion for lunch.</p><p>Chiron had made the Hades cabin activity schedule such that all his classes and duties fell after lunch, something the raven was incredibly grateful for.</p><p>On his way to the dining pavilion Nico saw Coach Hedge coming towards him with little Chuck in his arms and low-key tried to hide in one of the nearby shadows with no luck.</p><p>"Kid!" Hedge bellow happily as Nico suppressed a wince.</p><p>He liked Coach Hedge enough but the old satyr always tried to rope the son of Hades into babysitting his son Chuck. Nico hadn't the slightest clue what the <em>fuck</em> he was supposed to do with a tiny baby satyr. Or <em>any</em> baby for that matter. There was also the fact that the two times Nico had actually held the baby in his arms, Chuck had peed on him. Nico didn't know if he looked like a walking toilet to the baby satyr but what he <em>did</em> know was that for someone so small, Chuck peed <em>alot.</em></p><p>"Hey coach. You look...dressed." And he was. The 5'0 satyr was dressed in a pink zoot suit with a light blue undershirt and a white bowtie with Red Polka Dots on it. </p><p>"Going somewhere?" Nico asked, careful not let his judgement of the clothing show on his face.</p><p>"Yes! I have a date with Mellie in the woods in another ughh..." He dug out an old pocket watch and looked at it, "....10 minutes, Oh Zeus!" Hedge threw him a panicked look, and Nico already knew what was coming....</p><p>"Kid can you look after Chuck for a few hours? Clarisse is busy fixing a bed she broke in the infirmary..." Coach asked him with hopeful eyes.</p><p>Nico meticulously stopped his brain from thinking about the head medic and focused on thinking of an excuse.</p><p>"I-I don't know coach....you know I'm not good with kids...." Nico tried to stutter out. Damn, why was it so hard to say no to short people who saved your life?</p><p>"Nonsense! Chuck loves you...I'm sure you'll be just fine." The satyr replied, already shoving the bundle of blankets in Nico's arms.</p><p>Nico struggled to hold the chronologically four months, but biologically two months old baby so it won't fall and desperately looked at Hegde who ignored his silent cry for help and fixed his bowtie. A few passing demigods snickered while a few looked at him with pity. Nico glared at them all.</p><p>"See! You make a fine babysitter di Angelo. Ask one of the wood nymphs to get some goat milk for my boy and you'll be fine and dandy. See you in a few hours kid!" With that, the short satyr slapped him on the back (more like his lower back) and rushed off muttering something about flowers.</p><p>___</p><p>Percy and Jason snorted as Nico approached their table, awkwardly holding Chuck in his arms.</p><p>The two were sitting with a lot of space between them and had an awkward energy surrounding them, which was probably a first for those two.</p><p>"Bro you know he's not a bomb seconds away from exploding right?" Percy snickered.</p><p>"Don't 'bro' me Jackson. If this baby pees on me again I'm throwing it in the dumpster by its hooves." Nico said and immediately panicked to secure his grip on Chuck as the baby satyr starting kicking the air wildly at the word 'hooves' while making energetic baby noises and clapping his tiny hands together.</p><p>Okay so maybe he was a little cute. Still a handful though.</p><p>Jason being the ever present gentleman went to ask for the goat milk while Percy handled a wriggly Chuck so Nico could get his food and burn an offering to his Father.</p><p>The son of Hades was surprised when the satyr calmed down as soon as he returned to Nico's lap though that may have something to do with the warm bottle of goat milk Jason had just handed him.</p><p>Chuck made small satisfied noises as he gulped the milk from the bottle and Nico's heart melted a little.</p><p>
  <em>Maybe babies weren't all that bad. </em>
</p><p>It must've been quite a sight. A son of Hades dressed in all black feeding a baby satyr wrapped in pastel blankets goat milk. Talk about comedy.</p><p>The son of Hades observed the other two occupants of the table while he fed the satyr. The two where absently messing with their food while trying to pretend the other wasn't there. Typical.</p><p>Nico passed a sleepy Chuck to Percy so he could eat his own food. The baby immediately started crying in the son of Poseidon's awkward hold.</p><p>"Fuck, this is difficult." The dark haired boy said as he tried to console the baby while Jason tried to help.</p><p>"Aah....maybe try to make his burp? I've seen people do that to babies back in Rome" Jason suggested.</p><p>Nico watched in amusement as Percy and Jason worked together to make the infant comfortable. Sure, there was an undertone of awkwardness but by the time Chuck was asleep in Percy's lap they were almost back to normal, which was a relief. He alone was socially awkward enough for the three of them.</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>______</p>
</div><p> </p><p>"So Neeks, how was your date with Solace last night?" Jason asked with a teasing smile as the three made their way out of the dining pavilion, with a sleeping Chuck back in Nico's arms.</p><p>Nico's cheeks coloured at that question as he resisted looking in the direction of the Apollo table.</p><p>"It wasn't a date! I just helped him sort out the closet."</p><p>"Are you sure sorting out is all you both did in there?" Percy grinned as he joined Jason in pulling his leg. Traitors. Both of them.</p><p>"I-I Ugh...Y-yes!" Nico stammered, cursing himself for being so transparent.</p><p>Why is it that all his ability to lie and being discreet went down the drain everytime the son of Apollo was mentioned? For Hades sake he kept the secret of the two camps for months before anyone else figured it out but he couldn't pretend the almost kiss didn't happen last night. He could almost hear Aphrodite laughing at him right now.</p><p>"You don't sound so sure Neeks" Percy said with a shit eating grin in place.</p><p>Jason cut off whatever retort Nico was planning on delivering as he hurriedly grabbed Percy's arm and dragged him off to the training room.</p><p>"We have a training class Percy! We should go...see you around Neeks!"</p><p>Nico watched in confusion as Jason dragged a confused and protesting Percy towards the training ground. However, his confusion didn't last long as on his next inhale Nico caught the  faint scent of disinfectant being overpowered by the strong sweet smell of sunflowers and spices.</p><p>"Nico!"</p><p>The son of Hades turned to find none other than Will Solace approaching him with a nervous smile.</p><p>His wolf made a sound of contentment in his chest. Last night, when Nico had ran away from the infirmary, his wolf instincts had been an absolute bitch the whole night. Fighting against him to go back to Will.</p><p>At one point his ears had became pointy and his nails elongated into claws. It had taken all of Nico's willpower and a promise to talk to him today to stop himself from wolfing out.</p><p>That was the only reason Nico didn't make a dash for his cabin even when seeing the blond approach him in his orange camp half blood shirt and trousers stirred the faint memories of his dream from last night.</p><p>"Hey" Will said with a million watt smile.</p><p>Damn that smile. It was ruining Nico's existence.</p><p>"Hi" He replied timidly.</p><p>"So you're on babysitting duty huh?" Will's smile widened as he point at the bundle of blankets in Nico's arms.</p><p>Nico's cheeks flushed even further at that as he adjusted his grip on the sleeping baby satyr and glared at the son of Apollo. <em>This is embarrassing.</em></p><p>"Yeah, apparently some <em>idiot</em> dragged Clarisse to the infirmary to fix a bed"</p><p>The healer let out a loud laugh which sent tingles down Nico's spine.</p><p>"He truly must've been a horrible person to bind you to such a terrible fate." Will said with a toothy grin. One of his teeth was a little crooked but that just made his smile even <em>more </em>enduring. Nico really wanted to tell that smile to fuck off.</p><p>"He's not that bad" Nico shrugged lightly as to not disturb the satyr, and then rushed to clarify himself when he saw the twinkle in Will's pretty eyes, "By 'him' I obviously mean Chuck. Not the annoyingly attractive heale-....Oh shit."</p><p>Nico looked at Will with a deer caught in the headlight look at his little slip up. Gods. He needs to stop spending so much time with Percy and Jason. He's obviously loosing too many braincells from being around them.</p><p>"Aww, you think I'm annoyingly attractive huh?" Will wiggled his eyebrows at him teasingly and Nico honestly thought he was going to die from all the blood rushing to his face.</p><p>"Don't worry though, I think Chuck's current babysitter is annoyingly cute and attractive as well so we're even." The son of Apollo said with a wink.</p><p>Nico groaned miserably, "Is there something you want or are you just here to embarrass me Solace?"</p><p>Will's teasing smile melted back into a nervous one at that.</p><p>"Aah yes.....I was wondering when you'd like to do.....you know, what we discussed last night." Will asked a little bashfully while rubbing the back of his neck.</p><p>Nico obviously thought Will was asking  when he'd like to Kiss him and choked on his breath.</p><p><em>Brilliant</em>.</p><p>He saw Will panic from the corner of his eye as he coughed to get air back in his lungs.</p><p>"Not that!" Will screeched loudly causing some campers to look at him weirdly.</p><p>"I meant you....shifting."</p><p>Oh.</p><p>
  <em>Yeah, that makes more sense. </em>
</p><p>A part of Nico felt disappointed. The other part told that one to shove it.</p><p>"Ugh...How about around 5? I'll be done with my duties by then" Nico offered, still a little embarrassed.</p><p>"5 is great! My cabin will be free by then as well...so I'll meet you at your cabin at 5 then?"</p><p>"Yeah, I'll be there"</p><p>With a final smile directed his way, Will made his way towards the art and craft building. Nico couldn't help but smile at the son of Apollo's retreating back as he repeated their conversation in his head.</p><p>
  <em>"Don't worry, though, I think Chuck's current babysitter is annoyingly cute and attractive as well so we're even."</em>
</p><p>Will thought he was cute and attractive.  </p><p>With butterflies in his stomach and a fuzzy feeling in his chest Nico looked down, maybe being Chuck's babysitter wasn't such a bad thing.</p><p>Then the repulsive smell hit him. A very <em>specific</em> repulsive smell which was coming from the baby satyr now starting to let out tiny irritated cries in his arms.</p><p>The little shit <em>did not </em>just poop in Nico's arms.</p><p>After a little inspection and two sons of the big three rolling on the ground laughing, the son of Hades decided <em>Fuck it. Babies fucking sucked. </em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I swear the way Characters just keep shoving themselves into my story without me planning on it is going to drive me insane. Lmao I don't know where Hedge came from but Nico being soft for a baby is gold so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯</p><p>To clarify:<br/>Nico was born in the 1930s, back then the views on sexual intimacy were quite different and kids didn't have phones to self discover things like they do now so I have a feeling Nico would have quite outdated facts about sex even if he remembers some stuff. </p><p>Westover Academy is the only place I reckon he would've gotten any idea about sex but not much because he was still ten back then. </p><p>Another instance perhaps was when he stayed at camp for a few weeks after the Titan war but everyone knew him as the son of Hades who didn't talk to anyone and glared at everyone who approached him. So, I doubt people were to focused on talking to him about sex. Same theory with camp Jupiter. And after that the quest of the seven started. I very much doubt Nico talked about sex with Achlys. (Or Minos or Hades for that matter) </p><p>That's it! I hope you enjoyed the chapter :D let me know what you think about it in the comments, I love reading them (◕ᴗ◕✿)</p><p>I hope you all stay safe and healthy &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nico made his way towards the Hades cabin, soaked to the bone with sweat. Clarisse had a lot of frustration to let out during sword fighting today because "Solace is a stingy ass bitch".</p>
<p>Apparently, during breakfast Will had sneakily tied her legs to one of the fixed-to-the-floor dining tables by a very complicated knot and threatened to curse her to speak in rhyming couplets for a week if she didn't swear to fix the bed she broke without causing any bodily harm to him.</p>
<p>Nico was both regretful and glad he missed that. Regretful because <em>that </em>would've been hilarious and glad because he was <em>not</em> interested in thinking why the idea of Will tying someone up and being dominating shot heat down his spine.</p>
<p>His heightened senses were the only reason Nico didn't get his ass handed to him by the daughter of war. The other Ares campers weren't that lucky.</p>
<p>Nico shared almost all training classes with the Ares cabin because Chiron didn't want to challenge fate by putting the big three spawns together to bash each other's heads. There was also the fact that Percy wasn't a camper this winter and Jason travelled back and forth between the two camps.</p>
<p>By the time the dark walls of the Hades cabin came in sight, the few bruises he acquired had healed. Will wasn't anywhere in sight and Nico couldn't smell anything but his own sweat so he didn't know if the blond was late or waiting inside his cabin -which he had taken extra care to clean before leaving.</p>
<p>When Nico gave his cabin a makeover, he left the outside intake with the black stone, green Greek fire torches and the gold skull shaped doorknob because he had a reputation to uphold, but he changed the interior completely.</p>
<p>Three of the walls inside his cabin were now painted a nice shade of grey while one was painted black. A shrine to Hades sat against the black wall, amongst which was a little Hades figurine, Bianca's last gift to him. There were four beds with greyish-white covers and two study tables all made of black mahogany wood with beautiful Greek symbols and patterns itched into them in gold by Hazel. Nico had also installed dark purple curtains around every bed for privacy along with a small water fountain for Iris messaging Hazel and Reyna and a small private bathroom.</p>
<p>Percy and Jason claimed he was cheating by having a private bathroom at a camp but they were kidding themselves if they think Nico was using the communal baths. He used those for the past five years out of necessity and he's had his fill with them.</p>
<p>In the last few days Nico had iris messaged Reyna atleast twice a week. Nico told her his discoveries about being a werewolf and Percy and Jason being morons while she vented to him about difficult campers and stuff she found about Lycanthropes in the Roman legion. Apparently, there had been only two who had joined camp while the rest had opted to follow Goddess Lupa in their wolf forms till they died.</p>
<p>As he climbed the stairs in front of his cabin, Nico wished he had time to take a shower before meeting Will but according to the watch he'd bought from the camp store, it was already 5:15pm and he didn't want to keep Will waiting so with a distressed sigh, he sucked it up and entered his cabin.</p>
<p>"Is being late to our own plans our thing now?" He heard a melodious voice say as he closed the door.</p>
<p>Nico's heart jumped at seeing Will Solace sitting on his bed with his hands placed behind him and a laid-back smile on his face. He was wearing a faded blue zip up hoodie which complimented his blue eyes nicely along with black jeans and Converse shoes.</p>
<p>He didn't even know Solace owned any footwear which weren't ugly looking crocs or flip-flops and don't even get him started on those black jeans.</p>
<p>Hades, he wanted to throw himself at the blond. To climb in his lap and kiss him on the lips. To cuddle against his sturdy chest and soak in his warmth. To-</p>
<p>
  <em>To find the nearest bottle of bleach and cleanse his mind in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. </em>
</p>
<p>The fuck. Nico shook his head to get rid of the weird thoughts.</p>
<p>"I'm so sorry I kept you waiting your highness, I was busy taking the heat of Clarisse's frustration, thanks to you." Nico replied sarcastically as he tried his best not to look at the collarbones peeking from Will's hoodie.</p>
<p>The son of Apollo shrugged sheepishly as he looked Nico up and down.</p>
<p>"You look nice" Nico looked at Will in astonishment, who looked a little shocked and embarrassed at his own admission.</p>
<p>The son of Hades looked down at his sweat soaked shirt sticking to his torso. He would've no doubt thought Will was making fun of him if it wasn't for the blush covering the blond's cheeks.</p>
<p>"I-I-... what- Ahem..I mean...t-thanks. You look really nice as well." Nico replied bashfully as he ran his hand through his sweaty bangs.</p>
<p>Will cleared his throat to break the silence before saying "So are we doing this?"</p>
<p>Nico took a deep breath and nodded. He was feeling even more restless to shift since they decided on a time to meet. It's been almost two weeks since the last time Nico shifted in that clearing.</p>
<p>Ofcourse, nothing was stopping him from shifting in the privacy of his own cabin but with how strong his feral instincts to court Will have been, he wasn't sure he could trust himself not to run into the woods to get a kill for him. He also didn't want to risk making any loud noises and alerting anyone.</p>
<p>So, after two weeks of suppressing the urge, his wolf instincts were going crazy at the thought of shifting with Will in the room. No matter how nervous Nico was about the whole ordeal, the anticipation of the shift was too strong for him to resist anymore.</p>
<p>With Will's eyes on him, Nico made his way towards one of the unoccupied beds and pulled the curtains around it shut. He felt almost sick with nerves as he took off all his clothes,<em> I hope I don't do anything stupid,</em> and with that he took a deep breath and concentrated.</p>
<p>It didn't take much for him to feel a tug at his bite as his bones started cracking and rejoining into a take the shape of a lean wolf. His skin felt sensitive as thick grey fur covered it and his ears and nose elongated.</p>
<p>After what felt like minutes but probably was only a few seconds Nico stood on the floor of his cabin in his wolf form. He remembers reading in one of the demigod Lycanthropes texts that the transition may feel longer to the werewolf than it actually is because during shifting, most of the senses improved to adapt to the wolf anatomy, making it seem like time was flowing slower for the couple of seconds it takes for the shift to complete.</p>
<p>As soon as Nico pushed the curtains aside to step out into the room, all the scents covering Will reached his nose. His usual spices and sunflower cologne with a undertone of lime soap, light scents of his siblings and friends and nectar from the small droplets which must've fallen on his hands along with a little sweat, probably from one of his sports classes.</p>
<p>
  <em>Gods, even his sweat smells like wet earth after rain. How is this guy real? </em>
</p>
<p>But those weren't the scents which bothered him. No, it was the smell of one of those fakeass "masculine" deodorants which Nico <em>knew </em>Will hated. The smell of the deodorant along with the unmistakable smell of the Nemesis cabin made Nico see red. Kyle Atkinson. The son of Nemesis had been trying to make a move on Will for months and it annoyed Nico to no bounds. Apparently, that bitch made a move on <em>his </em>Will again.</p>
<p>A growl slipped past his lips at that fact as he looked up at the blond. Inspite of Nico's agitated posture, the son of Apollo didn't look scared. If anything, he looked concerned and a little confused.</p>
<p>"Nico?"</p>
<p>The call of his name sprung Nico into action as he moved with speed a human body couldn't master. Nico landed in front of Will -who was now standing in front of his bed looking a little alarmed- and placed his front two paws on his chest as he stood up on his two hind legs.</p>
<p>Will looked a little startled and very confused as Nico put pressure on his chest with his paws, urging the blond to sit back at the edge of his bed.</p>
<p>Satisfied at having his Will where he wanted him Nico buried his snort into the blond's neck and covered all the scent glands he could reach. The werewolf huffed in satisfaction as he scent-marked every bit of skin on Will's neck with his own territorial pheromones. His mind a symphony of</p>
<p>
  <em>Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. </em>
  <br/>
  <em>Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate. </em>
</p>
<p>Finally satisfied with how his Will smelled Nico licked the blond's cheek which elected him a giggle. Elated at the happy sound and the light happy pheromones Will himself was expelling, Nico pushed him down on the bed with his muzzle and adjusted his position so Will was lying between the wolf's four legs and continued licking Will's face.</p>
<p>Will laughed loudly besides his ear, "Ahhaha...slow down Neeks! That tickles..."</p>
<p>Will shrieked in laughter and held Nico back when he tried to dip his tongue inside his hoodie to lick his collarbones. <em>Shame.</em> The blond's face was flushed from laughing and his eyes had a twinkle in it as he grinned at Nico with all his teeth on display.</p>
<p>
  <em>Gods, he was so beautiful when he smiled. </em>
</p>
<p>Nico tried to tell him as such via a bark but Will closed his hands around his muzzle, trapping the sound before it could escape as he sat up and pressed a finger to his puckered lips to impersonate silence.</p>
<p>Nico huffed and rolled his eyes to make his displeasure known but stayed quiet anyway.</p>
<p>Will smiled and placed his hands on his neck, scratching lightly as the grey wolf whined at the pleasant sensation.</p>
<p>"Oh my gods, you're like an overexcited dog. Its so adorable."</p>
<p>Nico would've growled in protest at being compared to a dog if Will hadn't moved his scratching from around his neck to under his chin and behind his ears.</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh my gods, this guy has magic hands. </em>
</p>
<p>Nico whined in contentment as he placed his head on the blond's lap.</p>
<p>They lay like that for awhile, lazing around and enjoying eachothers company. At one point they had a pillow fight which Will won by cheating, and a wrestling match which obviously Nico won.</p>
<p>Werewolves bond with the one they're trying to court by initiating playful fights, so Will responding to his courting made him feel like he was on cloud nine. </p>
<p>They didn't even notice it was time for dinner until they heard the conch horn blowing in the distance.</p>
<p>"Ah shit, I have to leave to collect my cabinmates Nico" Will said mournfully.</p>
<p>Nico whined a little but eventually got off the bed and made his way towards the curtained area. He felt weirdly content as his bones broke and rearranged themselves. A few minutes later, Nico walked out of the curtains back to human and fully dressed.</p>
<p>His room was a mess of feathers from the pillow Will had ripped to make him sneeze during the pillow fight and other random stuff they knocked down from shelves while wrestling.</p>
<p>Nico noticed Will standing in front of his door and approached him, feeling more content than he had in forever but also more vulnerable. It scared Nico just <em>how</em> strong his feelings were for the son of Apollo. Nico remembers how he referred to Will in his wolf form. <em>Mate. My Will. Mine. </em></p>
<p>And it scared him. Nico didn't know how to be a boyfriend, much less a mate. And he didn't want to scare Will off. From the instances of the last few days it was obvious Will felt atleast <em>something </em>toward him. But it scared him to reach out and find just how serious that little something was.</p>
<p>What if Will realized Nico wasn't worth it? What if he realised he deserved wayyy better than a son of Hades who sucked at emotions? What if he wanted something casual like Bianca's classmates Dean and Samantha back at Westover academy did? Nico didn't know what "casual" consisted of. Fuck he didn't even know what "serious" consisted of. Not really. He just wanted Will next to him.</p>
<p>He felt a lot closer to Will after today and even the possibility of Will walking away sent a stab of pain through his heart. He wasn't sure he could take losing him.</p>
<p>But all those doubts dimmed when he reached the blond and saw the beautiful smile on his face. Teeth and all. He let a smile of his own show.</p>
<p>Smiles never came easily to Nico after Bianca died and his world turned upside down but smiling at Will felt so natural, smiling <em>with</em> Will felt so natural.</p>
<p>"Who knew you could be such an adorable wolf" Will grinned at him.</p>
<p>Nico had scent-marked Will strong enough that he could smell his claim on the blond even in his human form. The thought of the medic smelling like him the whole day made him blush.</p>
<p>"Don't tell the others. I have a reputation to uphold." Nico said with a fond eyeroll.</p>
<p>"Is this your way of saying I'm the only one who's allowed this privilege?"</p>
<p>His chest felt fuzzy as Nico looked up at the son of Apollo fondly.<br/>"Yeah. I don't know how to thankyou enough for doing this today Will."</p>
<p>Will's face softened a little at that before a nervous smile took its place.</p>
<p>"Well, you can promise to not kill me for doing this."</p>
<p>"Doing what?"</p>
<p>Will's ears turned a little red and that was the only warning Nico got before he felt the light pressure of Will's lips against his cheek. The blond was out the door before he could process what happened.</p>
<p>Nico felt skeleton butterflies go wild in his stomach as he placed a hand against his warm cheek which was still tingling from the ghost of Will's kiss.</p>
<p>
  <em>Zeus's holy underpants.</em>
</p>
<p>And if Nico di Angelo was 15 minutes late for dinner because he was too busy squealing into his pillow (Which smelled a little like Will now) then no one else had to know.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oh my god you guys?!? 100+ kudos??! (╥﹏╥) My goodness, I honestly never thought I'd cross 50, this makes me so freaking happy like you have no idea! Thankyouuuuu! &lt;3 </p>
<p>Another chapter done! :D Nico is a little kinky but he doesn't know it yet lol ;P don't worry though, it's coming soon I promise :P </p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed this!!! Let me know in the comments and leave kudos if you liked it :D &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next two days passed in a blur. Will was busy because one of the Hephaestus cabin experiments went wrong and landed a lot of campers with numb limbs and broken bones in the infirmary.</p>
<p>Jason was working on a shrine for Ariadne, goddess of passion and mazes and Mr D's immortal wife. She didn't sire any demigod children so Jason thought it appropriate to honor her this way instead of installing a cabin. Which meant Nico had to watch Jason and Percy dance around eachother.</p>
<p>And he continued to wake up aroused from less than innocent dreams about Will. He didn't even remember many details when he woke up, and save for a few, most of what he <em>did</em> remember faded in the next few moments as well. What <em>did not</em> fade that easily however, were his boners.</p>
<p>Nico was pretty sure he was part of some cosmic joke the gods enjoyed laughing at as he glared down at the tent in his boxers.</p>
<p>Everytime it got harder to resist the urge to wrap his hands around it. </p>
<p>"What do you <em>want </em>from me?" He growled down at it but obviously got no reply. Rude.</p>
<p>He rested his head back against the headboard with a frustrated sigh and closed his eyes. Immediately, hazy images of pleasure filled hooded blue eyes flashed in his mind and his eyes snapped back open with a frustrated sigh.</p>
<p>He looked down at his dick again and bit his lips, taping the fingers of his right hand against were it rested on his upper thigh.</p>
<p>He didn't have any classes today because Clarisse was busy making plans for tomorrow's Capture the Flag and without her all the other Ares kids were going to bunk all the classes. He had time.</p>
<p>He moved his open palm towards his dick but closed his fist before it could touch, going back to tapping his fingers on his thigh instead.</p>
<p>He didn't know what was holding him back from masterbating. Modesty? Not knowing what he's doing? Or the slight itch of doubt whispering 'what if the old nuns were right about this causing insanity'? What if him masterbating sets off a course of actions which leads to the next war?</p>
<p>It was because of moments like these he wished he knew how to use those smartphone thingys and using them wasn't potentially dangerous for demigods. He was too shy to ask Percy and Jason about this and asking Chiron or the Athena cabin for books on the matter wasn't any better.</p>
<p>After another two failed attempts Nico finally thought <em>fuck it. </em></p>
<p>He is Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades and the Ghost King. He survived two wars, The rise of Kronos and Gaia. He walked through Tarturus alone <em>and</em> spent the majority of his free time with Percy and Jason without going insane. Like hell is something like stroking his own dick taking him down.</p>
<p>Mind made up, Nico let out a deep exhale and cupped his dick through his boxers, only to immediately let out a high pitched shriek and rush to cover himself as the door to his cabin slammed opened and Jason Grace came barging in.</p>
<p>"JASON WHAT THE FUCK!?!" Nico shouted in outrage.</p>
<p>"Wha..." The son of Jupiter noticed Nico's flushed features and his desperate attempts to cover his lap with his sheets and snorted before a slightly desperate expression took its place.</p>
<p>"Neeks you gotta help me man, I'm having a crisis!"</p>
<p>Nico wanted to hiss <em>So was I dumbass,  </em>but resisted the urge out of the kindness of his heart because Jason was nice enough not to mention the compromising situation he found him in.</p>
<p>Nico ignored Reyna's voice in his mind saying 'it's not out of the kindness of your heart if you give a reason to it'.</p>
<p>Atleast the blond's unwanted presence had taken care of his problem. <em>Huh, that was fast</em>. From now he'll just imagine Jason's face everytime he didn't have time for a cold shower. It'll do the job just fine.</p>
<p>"What do you want Grace." Nico deadpanned.</p>
<p>"I don't know! Maybe some mental clarity?!" Jason exclaimed a little hysterically.</p>
<p>"Ah, sorry 'bro', I just ran of out that like 5 minutes ago. Maybe try some other time? Or never." Nico replied sarcastically.</p>
<p>Jason glared at him and that's how Nico knew this was something really troubling the son of Jupiter because Jason <em>never </em>glared at him.</p>
<p>He sighed as the tension drain out of his body. Crossing his legs Nico motioned for Jason to sit on the bed and the blond slumped down on it with a dejected sigh.</p>
<p>"What's wrong?" He asked him a little hesitantly. Nico wasn't really swimming in mental clarity right now. He didn't know how much he could help his friend but Jason has been there for him all this time so he was going to try.</p>
<p>"I don't know, I just feel so...confused. About Percy."</p>
<p>Ah. That. Nico knew this was coming a long way back but that didn't prepare him any better for this conversation.</p>
<p>Inspite of that, Nico felt warmth in his chest that Jason trusted him with this. Out of all the members of the seven who were alive and Reyna, Jason had chosen <em>Nico </em>to confide in. It made him feel special, like Jason considered him his bestfriend as well.</p>
<p>"I don't know what to think! I love Piper. I'm sure of that fact....but I kinda like Percy too? I never really thought about it much until Annabeth mention <em>Percy </em>having a thing for me too! And now things are all weird" Jason ranted as he lay back on the bed with one arm under his head and legs still hanging off the side.</p>
<p>Nico pressed his lips together. He sucked at emotions but he was all too familiar with having feeling for Percy.</p>
<p>"Back when I had feelings for Percy, I misinterpreted there magnitude because of all my doubts and self hatred. How strong do you think your feelings are for Percy?"</p>
<p>Jason turned on his side so he was facing Nico. "As if how I see myself dating him if I wasn't with Piper and he wasn't with Annabeth?" Jason asked and thought about it for a moment at Nico's nod. <br/><br/>"Honestly? I don't. I can't think of myself dating him. Our relationship is too... different, for that. But I also kind of want to....try some stuff with him. Do you get it?" He asked as this time he sat cross legged in front on him. It was obvious this topic made his jittery, the blond never moved around this much during a conversation but Nico didn't comment on it.</p>
<p>"Kind of. Can you tell me what it is about Percy that attracts you?"</p>
<p>"Uh..I don't know..he's charming, quite hot if I say so myself and has a lovable personality. What's not to like?"</p>
<p>"Hmm. And how do you feel about Piper?"</p>
<p>Jason's face softened at that question and he didn't even think about it before answering.</p>
<p>"Piper is amazing. I love her Nico. She's so loving and understanding but not in an overbearing kind of a way and she's one of the bravest badass people I know." He said with a fond look in his eyes and a soft smile on his face. "I know you two aren't that close but I'm sure you'll agree if you guys talk a little more. Honestly, if- <em>when</em>. When I think of a future I see it with her and no one else."</p>
<p>Nico felt a little guilty that he never made an effort to bond with his best friend's girlfriend. Initially, Nico had it in his head that no one except a few people really wanted him around. He never really tried to bond with anyone who didn't actively try to get past his defences.</p>
<p>It was only after the second war when Will dragged him around camp, introducing him to different people that he started doubting the "everyone hates me" ideology. But by then it was too awkward to approach Piper, someone who was already a part of his group.</p>
<p>Mentally, Nico made a promise to talk to Piper more and then returned his focus to Jason's problem.</p>
<p>"It sounds to me Jason, that you're merely infatuated with Percy because you're curious about your sexuality and he's someone you look up to and compare yourself with."</p>
<p>Jason pondered on that before slowly nodding his head.</p>
<p>"You're probably right. But what do I <em>do </em>about this Nico? Everytime I think about Percy that way, I feel like I'm cheating on Piper. Its driving me crazy!" Jason asked with the desperate look back on his face.</p>
<p>Nico bit his lower lip. This was something he didn't know about. Crushes on Percy he could understand. Crushes on Percy <em>while </em>you were in love with your girlfriend he did <em>not</em>. So instead of giving his bestfriend some fucked up advice he himself wasn't sure about, Nico said the only thing which seemed valid to him.</p>
<p>"Maybe talk to Piper about it? Tell her everything you just told me. She's a daughter of Aphrodite, I'm sure she'll understand. Plus, she didn't seem too bothered by the topic when we were discussing it that day at the table."</p>
<p>Jason didn't look happy about that solution but he still thought about it. That's what made him a good leader. No matter if he liked it or not, he heard every opinion and option before coming to a decision.</p>
<p>The blond let out a defeated sigh and ran a hand through his hair, which had gotten longer than his usual military cut, before nodding.</p>
<p>"You're right. I should talk to Pipes about this." He said as he stood up from the bed and slapped himself lightly with his palms twice.</p>
<p>He made his way towards the door before he stopped midway and turned to Nico with pressed lips, a conflicted look in his eyes.</p>
<p>"What is it Jason?" Nico asked when the son of Jupiter didn't offer any explanation for his constipated look.</p>
<p>"....come with me please?" Jason asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.</p>
<p>Nico sighed. He didn't really have anything better to do today and Jason had ruined his earlier....plans anyway so he might as well accompany him.</p>
<p>"Fine. Give me five minutes." He said, already getting out of his bed.</p>
<p>"Thanks Neeks! Oh and I'm really sorry for disturbing you while-"</p>
<p>"Shut it! That incident never happened, understood Grace?"</p>
<p>"Understood. Incident? What incident? Me doesn't know any incident, No sir."</p>
<p>Nico rolled his eyes at his dramatic friend. Jason was definitely spending too much time with Percy.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>______</p>
</div><p> </p>
<p>Jason kept fidgeting on their way to the Aphrodite cabin. Nico mentally gave himself a pat on the back for not judo flipping Jason when he stopped for the <em>third</em> time with a nervous look.</p>
<p>"What if this really counts as cheating and she breaks up with me?"</p>
<p>Nico sighed. Gods, how did people do this patience thing? He has been doing it for merely ten minutes and he already needs a nap or ten to compensate for the stress which came with resisting the urge to beat the blond's ass.</p>
<p>Nico really wanted to snap at Jason to <em>suck it up </em>but he forced himself to calm down and say in an understanding tone.</p>
<p>"Jason. If it really counts as cheating then it's still better you confess now rather than torturing yourself about it for a few more weeks."</p>
<p>He patted his tall friend on the back before walking the few paces left between them and the pink cabin. He heard Jason approach behind him hesitantly before knocking on the door.</p>
<p>A boy Nico's height with light brown hair and hazel eyes opened the door. Mitchell. He had a light sprinkle of freckles on the bridge of his nose and fair skin which seemed to be glowing. He was kind of cute if Nico was being honest but not really his type and very much taken.</p>
<p>Mitchell smiled at the two demigods at their doorsteps. "Hey guys, hold up, I'll get Piper, you're lucky we both are the only ones here currently."</p>
<p>Jason let out a nervous breath and stayed quiet as Piper approached the door with a smile so Nico took the lead.</p>
<p>"Hey Piper, how's it going?" The question felt a little awkward in his mouth but he <em>had </em>promised to make an effort with the daughter of Aphrodite so he might as well start now.</p>
<p>Piper looked a little shocked at Nico willingly making small talk but rolled with the punches.</p>
<p>"Great, Drew cursed Miranda with permanent makeup for a week because she didn't like her outfit so-"</p>
<p>"-dont go in front of Drew without dark magic as backup. Got it." Nico nodded with a mock serious expression on his face.</p>
<p>Piper gave a short laugh at his comment. "Not how I would've put it but yeah, that works too."</p>
<p>Then she noticed the constipated look on her boyfriend's face and concern covered her features. "Jason? Everything alright?" She looked at Nico for an explanation when Jason didn't reply.</p>
<p>"Yeah, Jason just wanted to talk to you privately for a moment."</p>
<p>Piper looked a little agitated at that answer as she asked in a small voice, "You airnt breaking up with me right?"</p>
<p>"No!" Jason exclaimed loudly from behind Nico, "I'd never break up with you Pipes....I just wanna tell you about something."</p>
<p>Piper nodded as she ushered him in. "Let's talk inside, I can ask Mitch to leave for a while."</p>
<p>Nico was just about to walk off when Jason grabbed his arm. "Please wait for me?" Nico would've told him to piss off it the son of Jupiter didn't look so pale.</p>
<p>"Fine. I'll wait outside." He grumbled.</p>
<p>He was sitting on the glass, leaning against the pink wall when Mitchell walked out of the cabin and noticed him.</p>
<p>"Hey, mind if I join you there?"</p>
<p>Nico was a little surprised at the question. Even though he had improved a lot, it still surprised him when someone willingly spent time with him.  </p>
<p>"Sure, why not?" <em>Maybe because you have the social skills equivalent to a walnut. </em>Nico thought but who was he to say no to a cute boy? Nowhere as cute as Will ofcourse and still not Nico's type but still cute. He also didn't want to -by mistake- eavesdrop on Piper and Jason while he waited so the distraction might work in his favour.</p>
<p>It was when Mitchell leaned beside him on the wall that Nico noticed the light bruises covering his neck and collarbones.</p>
<p>"Did you get attacked by mosquitoes or something?" Nico didn't even know there were mosquitoes inside camp's magical borders.</p>
<p>He pointed at his neck when the hazel eyed boy looked at him in confusion.</p>
<p>Mitchell cover his neck in surprise before letting out a soft laugh. "Sure. If you consider Connor a mosquito."</p>
<p>Nico felt his face flushed at that. Ofcourse. <em>Idiota.</em></p>
<p>"Oh."</p>
<p>And there he goes getting awkward at the slightest sexual turn even though that admission sparked curiosity in him.</p>
<p>Mitchell gave him an observatory glance.</p>
<p>"You have questions. Ask."</p>
<p>Nico looked at the son of Aphrodite in surprise. Can he read minds? Or does Nico look that miserable? Mitchell must have read the surprise on his face because a faint blush covered his cheeks.</p>
<p>"Aphrodite covers a lot of domains so we all have different powers. Mine specially are more... sexual based. I can practically feel the sexual confusion rolling off of you. So, uh...you can ask questions if you want. We don't have much to do for awhile anyway. Its your choice." The hazel eyed boy ranted while fidgeting with the strings of his white hoodie.</p>
<p>Nico pondered on the offer with pressed lips. He <em>was </em>curious and Mitchell was offering answers but at the same time his modesty and self-consciousness held him back. He knew he knows a lot less than the rest of his age-group usually did.</p>
<p>"I won't judge you Nico. Most people get curious about these things during puberty and I understand if you were too busy saving the world to get proper sex education." The sincerity shining in the son of Aphrodite's eyes finally sold Nico.</p>
<p>"Its just- I don't know much about uh- sexual intimacy. I have a faint idea about how things work between a male and a female but that's about it." Nico stated uncertainly.</p>
<p>"Hm, I could give you sex education mortals usually get around the age of 12-13?" Mitchell offered. Nico still felt embarrassed talking about something so private in the open but nodded anyway. There weren't many people outside anyway.</p>
<p>Mitchell explained to him the basics ofthe hormonal and physical changes the body went through during puberty. Nico felt relieved as things made sense to him.</p>
<p>"Wait. So it's normal to get erections during this age?" Nico asked, relieved.</p>
<p>"Yeah. Its normal to feel sexual attraction around this period as well."</p>
<p>"Okay uh, so how do we, you know- deal with it?" Nico felt his cheeks colour and looked down at his lap in embarrassment when Mitchell shot him slightly shocked look.</p>
<p>Shit. Was he not supposed to ask that? He assumed masterbation wasn't a big deal when Jason walked in on him and didn't react badly. But maybe Jason was too distracted to understand what Nico was doing? Thankfully Mitchell brought him out of his misery.</p>
<p>"Shit sorry, you just took me by surprise. You didn't ask anything wrong Nico, don't worry." Nico looked back at the son of Aphrodite at the clarification.</p>
<p>"Well usually people use their hands with some kind of lubricant. Most boys specially start masterbating around the age of 13."</p>
<p>"So it doesn't cause insanity then?"</p>
<p>Mitchell shook his head. "People believed that back in the thirties but the views changed drastically in the forties when a few children of Aphrodite and Apollo pressed the fact that masterbation was actually healthy for the growing body."</p>
<p>Nico sighed in relief. He didn't really believe what the nuns had taught him, but it was hard to silence the whispers of doubt when he didn't know the facts.</p>
<p>Mitchell moved on to explain the workings of heterosexual sex in more biological detail to Nico. He wasn't really interested in knowing about heterosexual sex but something about it sparked curiosity in his mind. His previous questions of how things worked between a homosexual couple kept circling in his mind.</p>
<p>When Mitchell was done explaining the significance of condoms and consent Nico finally asked the question he really wanted to know about.</p>
<p>"Mitchell? H-how do things work between two men?" Nico asked bashfully.</p>
<p>Thankfully the open look on Mitchell's face didn't change, if anything, he grinned at Nico. "Now we're getting to the fun stuff. What all do you think two men can do?"</p>
<p>"Uh.." Nico wasn't expecting the counter question. "Kissing, making out, And uh- masterbating....o-on eachother?" He mumbled unsure.</p>
<p>Mitchell chuckled in a 'this guy is adorable' fashion before shaking his head with an amused grin. "Oh Nico. The things I'm going to tell you."</p>
<p>And thus began the ultimate "Make Nico as horrified as humanly possible" conversation.</p>
<p>Nico wholeheartedly blames Jason.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Confession: I was originally going to include the sex talk in this chapter but it was getting too long so I cut the chapter into two parts....but don't worry I promise the next chapter will be ten times worth the wait! </p>
<p>Lol I was initially planning on Piper giving Nico sex ed but then Mitchell showed up and I'm weak for gay pretty boys, sue me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  </p>
<p>I'm kinda confused what to do with the jercy situation tbh- I could either let it die down here itself oooor..... I could include a few scenes. What do you guys think about that? Let me know in the comments! :D </p>
<p>Thankyou so much for the incredible response<br/> (人 •͈ᴗ•͈) I literally can not put it into words how thankful I am &lt;3 :')</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"There are a lot of things two men can do together."</p><p>The son of Aphrodite started with mirth dancing in his eyes, "The things you just mentioned come under basic foreplay. The process of 'masterbating on eachother', as you very eloquently put it, is more commonly known as a handjob."</p><p>Nico snorted.</p><p>Seriously?</p><p>All the terms in the world and the person who named the process settled on 'handjob'? And everyone bought it? Just like that? No "that sounds lame, let's change it to something better"?</p><p>They were probably one of those people who put a lot of effort into the naming process and eventually named their children very creative names like 'Bob Orginal', 'Bob No.2' and 'Bob Female'.</p><p>Mitchell ignored Nico's snort and continued his explanation.</p><p>"Apart from that, there is a lot more you can do as foreplay before getting to penetrative sex, though I'll just tell you the main things."</p><p>Nico choked on his spit. Literally.</p><p>Mitchell watched in amusement, being absolutely no help whatsoever, as Nico desperately tried not to die.</p><p>"P-penetrative sex?! That's not possible! Males don't have any ah-....holes. for that." Nico choked out.</p><p>Mitchell actually threw his head back and laughed. "Holy Aphrodite. I feel like I'm scarring an innocent puppy. But you <em>did </em>ask for this so technically I'm not to blame."</p><p>Nico was 75% sure Mitchell was fucking with him. After all, how could two males have penetrative sex? There wasn't anything to penetrate! Mitchell had explained that females had a special reproductive organ called the vagina, which was why it was pleasurable for them. Men had no such thing.</p><p>Mitchell was still chuckling. Ass. Make that 85%.</p><p>"Oh gods, I can't wait to see your reaction when I tell you about it, but let's back up a bit for now. We'll start with foreplay stuff." Mitchell said with a grin still in place.</p><p>"So. There are handjobs. Then there are blowjobs."</p><p>"What's up with the horrible names? Handjobs for hands and blowjobs for what? Blowing air on dicks?"</p><p>Mitchell looked like he was trying very hard to maintain a poker face as he deadpanned, "No. Sucking on them."</p><p><em>What</em>.</p><p>Nico must've made a pretty hilarious face because Mitchell lost it. Falling on his side while laughing so hard he clutched his stomach.</p><p>Now Nico had no doubt the son of Aphrodite was fucking with him. Who the fuck in their right minds sucked dicks?! They're dicks! People pee with those! Nico was sure he was just making things on the spot.</p><p>"You're fucking with me airnt you?" Nico asked accusingly.</p><p>Mitchell sat up, red in the face from laughing and shook his head before he pinched the skin on his throat with his thumb and forefinger, "I'm not, I swear on the river Styx. All the things I will tell you about sex are legit."</p><p>Lightening cracked in the distance and Nico gaped at Mitchell. Swears on the river Styx weren't something to be taken lightly. He had no choice but to accept that the hazel eyed boy was telling the truth.</p><p>"But- why-....how..I-" Mitchell must've understood whatever Nico wanted to ask because he smiled and explained.</p><p>"Mouths are warm and wet so it feels amazing, and if the mood is good enough then it's really sensual and intimate for the one doing it as well. Just be careful with your teeth, that's not cool." Mitchell leaned back on his hands and got more comfortable. "Heterosexual couples do this as well but with homosexual couples, it can go both ways."</p><p>Nico couldn't believe what he was hearing.</p><p>"B-but what if when...you know..." Nico made an exploding gesture with his hands and the son of Aphrodite chuckled.</p><p>"When your partner cums?" The dark haired boy felt his ears turn red as he nodded.</p><p>Mitchell had explained climaxes when he was telling him about heterosexual sex.</p><p>The brown haired boy hummed, "Blowjobs don't always result in climaxing but if they do then it's your choice. Some people pull away before it and finish off with their hands, some take it in their mouths and then spit it out and some don't mind swallowing." Mitchell shrugged lightly, "Really, just do what feels right and it'll be fine."</p><p>Mitchell waited patiently for him to digest that information. One rather disturbing question kept swirling around him mind but it was so embarrassing he had half a mind to not ask it.</p><p>Finally, Nico decided to bite the bullet and asked with an awkward cough.</p><p>"We can't ah...pee...by mistake... right?" He could feel his ears burning by when he managed to stutter out the question.</p><p>Thanks to the erections he's woken up to these past few days, the dark haired boy knew it was difficult to pee when hard, but he wanted reassurance there wasn't any possibility of....accidents.</p><p>"No no! The male body has a natural system that prevents them from peeing when hard or climaxing. They may release precum but that's it!"</p><p>Nico nodded in relief.</p><p>The idea of sucking cocks still seemed weird to him. Absurd even. But then, why did he feel heat pooling in his stomach at the idea?</p><p>Nico filed that question in his "think later, preferably when you have a wall to bang your head against" box for now and took a deep breath.</p><p>Alright. He got this.</p><p>Five minutes later he was groaning into his hands miserably as Mitchell finished explaining grinding and moved on to explain rimming.</p><p>"Rimming is like...licking your partner out or fucking your tongue into their-</p><p>Pleasant images of Will's tongue in his mouth entered his mind as he thought - <em>Hmm yes, I could get behind this rimming business - </em>and then Mitchell completed his sentence.</p><p>"-assholes."</p><p>Oh boy, he <em>soo</em> <em>not</em> got this.</p><p>"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" He definitely heard him wrong.</p><p>"Sure. Rimming is licking in and around your partner's asshole." Mitchell had the audacity to grin at him. That bitch knew <em>exactly </em>what he was doing.</p><p>Nico's mind literally shut down. He had no idea whatsoever what to do with that information. Naturally, he asked the most intelligent question.</p><p>"<em>Why?!" </em></p><p>Mitchell snorted. "Because it's fun. And feels <em>really </em>nice."</p><p>Nico wouldn't count licking assholes as fun.</p><p>
  <em>What the fuck is wrong with the human race? Not putting your fingers in electric sockets and tongues in people's assholes should be fundamental rules of civilization goddamnit! </em>
</p><p>"I don't get it! Why would anyone want to put their mouths....there." Nico groaned miserably.</p><p><em>This was a mistake.</em> <em>I will never be the same again. </em></p><p>Mitchell smiled at him sympathetically.</p><p>"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure most people react this way when they find out about these things. But I swear no matter how weird these sound in theory, they feel wonderful in practice. Unless you're asexual, which is fine as well of course."</p><p>The problem was that he had no problem believing that claim. As weird as the things Mitchell explained sounded, everytime Nico's treacherous brain conjured images of Will and him in those situations, heat shot down his spine.</p><p>Sure, he was still sceptical about that rimming thing but the rest of the stuff didn't sound that bad.</p><p>Nico's sigh was literally dripping with regrets. "Please tell me the penetration has nothing in common with rimming. Specially the location."</p><p>The mischief smile on Mitchell's face answered that question for him as he buried his face in his hands and groaned again.</p><p>
  <em>Why didn't I just stay ignorant about all this.</em>
</p><p>But even as he thought this, his curiosity got the best of him. He's always been weirdly fascinated with heterosexual penetrative sex even though he has no interest in females. To know that two males can do that as well? That definately tickled his fancy.</p><p>With a deep breath to ground himself Nico squared his shoulders and sat up straight. "Alright. Hit me."</p><p>In the next few minutes Mitchell explained Anal fingering, Anal hygiene ("it is <em>very </em>important to maintain your anal hygiene, like very very"), the importance of lube ("You can never have too much lube. If you think you have enough, add more."), the wonders of having a Prostate and finally, Anal sex.</p><p>Somewhere along the line he also explained the different roles during sex. About how some people preferred 'topping' or 'bottoming' while some preferred to switch and how it absolutely <em>did not</em> imply the one bottoming was submissive or the 'female' of the relationship.</p><p>That got Nico's attention. He had noticed how throughout the explanation Mitchell explained things to him as if he <em>knew </em>Nico was curious about bottoming. Well, the son of Aphrodite <em>did </em>have sexual powers so who knew, maybe he did. It was the truth anyway. Sure, he was curious about topping, but nowhere close to how curious he was about bottoming.</p><p>By the end of it all, Nico felt exhausted, like he just got out of a battle. His mind was spinning with all the knowledge he gained in the last.... however long it has been.</p><p>What was taking Jason so long?</p><p>He leans back against the wall of the cabin and looked up at the slightly grey sky. It was chilly outside the camp but the temperature inside was a little cold at best. It was the first week of December, meaning Bianca's death anniversary was coming closer. A little over a month after that he'll turn fifteen. Another age he'll reach but Bianca wouldn't.</p><p>Well. She did take rebirth. So who knows, maybe she will. Probably as someone else's sister this time. His chest tightened at that thought so Nico forced himself to focus on his surroundings instead.</p><p>No matter how embarrassing his conversation with Mitchell was, he felt a lot more clarity than before and that was something he was glad about. The things he learnt still boggled his mind but he'll think about them later in the privacy of his cabin.</p><p>He turned his head to look at the son of Aphrodite resting in a similar position beside him. Before today, they both had barely exchanged a few words bar the curses Nico threw at him and his boyfriend everytime he walked in on them making out in public. Did this mean they were friends now?</p><p>If someone told him five months prior that someday he'll have such a private conversation about gay sex with a son of Aphrodite he barely knew while sitting outside the Aphrodite cabin, Nico would've punched them in the face for wasting his time.</p><p>With a start Nico realized just<em> how</em> far he's come from that scared and hurt boy he used to be. It felt nice. Looking back at his journey and seeing that he's making progress. Getting better. When he was freed from the Jar even the possibility of getting 'better' seemed non existent to him.</p><p>He was still scared. Still scarred. But he was learning to accept the fact that maybe he wasn't alone. They didn't know the full truth about him yet. But maybe, someday.</p><p>"Have you ever done it before?" The question slipped past his lips even before he had a chance to process it.</p><p>Mitchell looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Done what?"</p><p>Nico bit his lips as he kept his eyes fixed on the greyish sky.</p><p>"Had sex." He didn't plan on it, but the question came out as a whisper, like he was asking Mitchell some dirty secret. After avoiding the topic like a plague for so long, it felt as such. Asking him for sex education was different than asking about his personal experience.</p><p>He half expected Mitchell to tell him to piss off when he saw him nodding out of the corner of his eyes.</p><p>"Yeah. I have. With Connor." The reply came in the same whispered tone Nico had asked the question in. It made him feel like they were sharing a secret.</p><p>Nico finally turned to look at him. "How did you know you were ready?"</p><p>Because that's what it's all about, wasn't it? The reason why Nico felt so nervous to kiss Will, to tell him how he felt, to masterbate, to dare to think of Will in a romantic and sexual way. He didn't know if he was ready.</p><p>Mitchell let out a soft chuckle.</p><p>"With Connor, I just kind of....knew. I know in my heart that Connor was it for me. And I <em>was</em> ready. Sure, the idea of being intimate with him made me nervous, but It didn't scare me. No matter how nervous, I wanted that connection with him. So I took a risk and told him. He said he felt the same. So we decided, why wait years to have sex when you don't know when the next war is going to come?"</p><p>Mitchell averted his eyes from the sky and met Nico's.</p><p>"It's fascinating how different demigod relationships are compared to mortal ones. In both the cases it's just teenagers trying to make things work, only we are constantly reminded of our mortality. In the last two years, I've fought two wars besides Connor. And both of those times, I didn't hesitate for a second before trusting him with my life. So what's the big deal in trusting him with my virginity?"</p><p>Nico thought about that. He had long ago stopped denying that he liked Will. His heart soared everytime the blond was happy and bled whenever he cried. But did he like him enough to want a future with him?</p><p>Nico closed his eyes and thought of them together in a small appartment in Rome. Nico doing some course from the University while Will did his residency from the hospital. Cooking dinner together and going to sleep cuddled together. Laughing, kissing and being there for eachother.</p><p>Nico's wolf whined in want at that image and his chest felt too small for his heart. <em>Gods yes. </em>He wanted that. More importantly, he wanted that future with Will and no one else.</p><p>Was Nico falling in love with him?</p><p>Nico snapped out of his thoughts when Mitchell continued.</p><p>"I hate to think about it. But the truth is we demigods never know w-when someone we love might not make it. If I were to die tomorrow, I don't want any regrets today. Not if I can help it. I'd rather go with happy memories than with What if's"</p><p>They both sat in silence contemplating before Nico realized it had been <em>atleast </em>two hour since Jason went in.</p><p>"We should probably check those two didn't get themselves killed inside."</p><p>They opened to the door to find Piper and Jason passed out cuddling on what Nico assumed was Piper's bed.</p><p>What really pissed him off was that Jason was Shirtless and his pants were unbuttoned.</p><p>There Nico was, trying to be a good friend and waiting for him outside and Jason was busy hooking up with his girlfriend and falling asleep? Even Mitchell looked a little irritated with them.</p><p>Nico looked around and noticed a makeup set on one of the vanity table. He raised his eyebrows questioningly at Mitchell, who grinned in response.</p><p>
  <em>Oh yeah, this will be fun.</em>
</p><p>They covered the sleeping couple's faces with deep red blushes and glittery blue eyeshadows, not giving any fucks whatsoever about neatness or elegance.</p><p>Finally, he picked up a dark maroon and a blood red lipstick.</p><p>"Those are kiss proof lipsticks. Won't get off easily in one wash." Mitchell warned him.</p><p>Good. Jason deserved it.</p><p>He applied the dark maroon lipstick to the son of Jupiter's lips and for good measures, wrote DICK in capital blood red letters on his forehead.</p><p>By the end of it, Jason looked like a rad drag queen while Piper looked like a drunk experiment gone wrong. Perfect.</p><p>Mitchell was giggling quietly behind him as he finished beautifying his bestfriend's face and made his way towards the door.</p><p>"Er- thankyou for that conversation. As scarring as it was, I really needed it." Nico admitted.</p><p>Just saying goodbye and walking away seemed a little rude so Nico, being the awkward walnut he was, extended his hand for a handshake.</p><p>This was probably the first time Nico was initiating physical contact with someone who wasn't Will, Percy or Jason.</p><p>He started regretting it when Mitchell merely stared at his extended arm. He thought they were bordering on friends but maybe he was wrong. Mitchell was probably just being nice by indulging him in conversations to pass time.</p><p>However, before he could drop his extended hand in defeat the hazel eyed boy pulled him into a hug. The embrace lasted just long enough for the son of Aphrodite to mutter "Friends hug di Angelo. Get used to it." Before he pulled away and closed the door with a small smile.</p><p>
  <em>Friends. </em>
</p><p>Nico couldn't help but smile. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Aahh I loved writing this chapter sooo much!!! </p><p>Most of my friends tell me I'm one of the most shameless people they know but I remember how disturbed I was when I initially found about anal sex and rimming XD </p><p>I've always seen Nico as a bottom ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I just don't know why - maybe because he deserves to be ravished by Will 〜(꒪꒳꒪)〜</p><p>Also, I think we all can agree that Nico needs some friends of his own apart from the seven. That's why I liked the concept of Reyna and Nico being friends so much and that's why I like the concept of Nico and Mitchell getting closer. </p><p>I really hope you liked this chapter! :D Let me know in the comments and leave kudos if you liked it<br/>(｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡</p><p>Stay safe and happy!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello!<br/>Just wanted to give a heads up that the first half of this chapter is pretty much smut, so if you wish to skip that part, pick up reading after the first break, from "Nico stared at his wardrobe" :)<br/>Enjoy! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing Nico did on reaching his cabin was iris message Reyna to insure Hazel got proper sex education</p>
<p><em>He</em> had prejudice when he barely recalls anything from his childhood, one can only imagine how bad it was for Hazel, who remembers everything.</p>
<p>Nico would sleep better knowing his younger sister got proper education about these things.</p>
<p>He ignored the knowing smile on Reyna's face as he dissolved the message and went to lay on his bed.</p>
<p>All the things he learnt today swirled around his head as he stared at the ceiling. The more he thought about them, the more appealing each one of them seemed.</p>
<p>How would a hand or mouth feel around him? Or a body on top of him...</p>
<p>His cock twitched in his pants as his mind conjured an image of Will on top of him in all his naked glory.</p>
<p>He's never seen Will naked of course. But that didn't stop his imagination from running wild.</p>
<p>Nico didn't bother entertaining any doubts this time as he palmed the bulge over his jeans. His cock throbbed beneath the fabric as he kneaded it, breaths getting heavier at the small jolts of pleasure that went down his spine.</p>
<p>He felt his cock get harder as he massaged it slowly, tenting the denim enough that it left nothing to the imagination. Biting his lower lip Nico unbuttoned his jeans and lowered them and his boxers enough that his dick sprung free, standing hard and proud.</p>
<p>Nico lightly trailed one of his finger up his shaft and shivered at the sensation before wrapping his hand firmly around the base. He gave it a firm squeeze and felt his breath get knocked out of him at the pleasure that followed.</p>
<p>Slowly, he moved his hands along his shaft, trying to find a rhythm he liked. The movement felt a little dry but he drowned the slight discomfort by imagining how Will would look while doing this - with his face flushed and breathy moans escaping his plum bitten lips as he pumped his dick.</p>
<p>A shakey moan of his own escaped Nico's lips at that image as his strokes sped up, the movements getting smoother from the precum leaking from his tip.</p>
<p>Nico brought his hand to the pink head of his dick and rubbed the precum into the sensitive skin with his thumb while occasionally dipping his short nail into his tip. The Image of Will's wet and warm tongue massaging his head instead of his thumb filled his mind and<br/>
a violent shiver wrecked his body as his mouth fell open and moans filled the cabin.</p>
<p>"Aha...Will..."</p>
<p>Shit, he's <em>so</em> was close he could practically taste it as all his muscles tightened with anticipation.</p>
<p>He resumed stroking his dick with a rigorous pace as heat pooled in his stomach at an alarming speed.</p>
<p>With a <em>just right</em> twist of his hand and an image of Will staring down at him with lust darkened eyes, Nico exploded. His back arched as electricity ran through his veins and loud moans escaped his lips.</p>
<p>"ah ah ah Will!"</p>
<p>He slumped down on his bed, breathless, with his nerve endings still tingling.</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh mio Dios. </em>
</p>
<p>Why has he never done this before?</p>
<p>Nico honestly felt a little betrayed for being kept from this pleasure for so long.</p>
<p>The drying cum on his hands eventually forced him to get up.</p>
<p>Wiping his hands on a discarded shirt he noticed his dick was still half hard, as if it wanted to make up for the two years Nico lost being naive and ignorant in one fortnight.</p>
<p>Nico pressed his lips together as he contemplated. He was a little too sensitive right now to jump head first into jerking off again, but there <em>is</em> something else he has been think quite a lot about since his conversation with Mitchell.</p>
<p>With his bottom lip trapped between his teeth, Nico made his way towards the cupboard besides his door which held his sword and other useless stuff, and rummaged through it till he found the seal packed bottle of lotion Hazel had left behind.</p>
<p>A sliver of light in the corner of his eyes made him realize his door was unlocked and a little ajar. A violent blush covered his cheeks as he realised anyone could've walked in on him masterbating.</p>
<p>His treacherous brain brought visuals of Will walking in on him moaning his name to the forefront of his mind and blood rushed to his lower regions.</p>
<p>
  <em>Holy mother of Gods. </em>
</p>
<p>With red cheeks, he locked the door and discarded his clothes on the floor before kneeling on his bed, facing the headboard.</p>
<p>His heart thumped in his throat from anticipation as he broke the seal on the lotion and applied a thick layer on two of his fingers.</p>
<p>With his other hand supporting him on the headboard, Nico slipped his lubed fingers behind himself and massaged his rim. It felt weird but also pleasant as he spread the lotion around his hole in small circles till he felt himself relax.</p>
<p>With a deep breath Nico applied a little pressure at his hole, experimentally dipping his finger an inch or so in before pulling it out and lubing them again.</p>
<p>He made sure his rim was relaxed as he slipped in his index finger till his knuckles and gasped at the alien feeling.</p>
<p>He wriggled his finger inside a little before pulling it out and inserting it in again. The motion felt weird, neither good nor bad as he felt around his walls and used his fingers to stretch himself.</p>
<p>After a while, Nico slipped in a second finger besides the first one and hissed at the slight jolt of pain. He felt his erection go down at the burning sensation and used his other hand to pump it back to hardness, the pleasure from the stokes drowning out the discomfort as he pulled his fingers in and out of his hole repetitively.</p>
<p>The pain dulled and tiny whines filled his room as the sensation started feeling pleasurable.</p>
<p>Nico curled his fingers experimentally and felt around his walls as his breath progressively got more laboured.</p>
<p>His hips jerked forward with a deep groan as his fingers came in contact with a spot inside him which made him see stars.</p>
<p>"Ahha..ah..shit" Nico moaned loudly as he continued to abuse that small spot inside him, practically shaking from all the pleasure running through his body.</p>
<p>A modified version of his previous fantasy played in his mind as he imagined Will walk in on him <em>right now.</em></p>
<p>How will Will react to seeing him two fingers deep in himself while moaning and pleading <em>his</em> name?</p>
<p>His hips jerked forward as his cock throbbed between his legs and dribbled a stream of precum on his sheets.</p>
<p>He closed his eyes and let the scene play out as he imagined Will come up behind him and pressing a hand to the small of his back.</p>
<p>"<em>Couldn't stop yourself, could you?" Will murmured in a gravely dangerous voice besides his ear, his hot breath hitting the back of Nico's neck and making him shiver. </em></p>
<p>"<em>Tell me what you want" the blond whispered into the skin of his neck as he sucked on it, his warm hands roaming the expanse of his body like he owned it. </em></p>
<p>"<em>Y-you. Want you Will..ah..please" Nico whimpered as he rubbed his walls with desperation, a fine layer of sweat coating his skin as the heat in his stomach intensified. </em></p>
<p>"<em>You look so pretty like this Nico, and all mine to ruin" </em></p>
<p>
  <em>He removed Nico's fingers to replace them with two of his own thicker ones, his pace alot faster than Nico's as he abused his Prostate relentlessly. </em>
</p>
<p>Nico gasped as electricity flooded his veins as that visual. He fastened the pace of his fingers as he brought his second hand back to his throbbing dick.</p>
<p>Small pleasured moans of "ah..ah..ah..ah" escaped him with every thrust as he tried to both, thrust back into his fingers and forward into his fist at the same time.</p>
<p>Stars danced behind his eyes as he pictured Will's fingers inside him and his hand wrapped around his dick.</p>
<p>The pleasure peaked and Nico's vision went white from the intensity of his second orgasm as he came all over his hand and sheets.</p>
<p>Nico hissed as he removed his fingers from his sensitive hole and collapsed on the bed completely spent and mind blissfully blank.</p>
<p>
  <em>This-This is life changing. </em>
</p>
<p>Mitchell is getting a basket of strawberries as a thankyou from him tomorrow.</p>
<p>Eventually, the drying mixture of cum and lotion on his hands and sheets forced him to leave the comfort of his bed as he made to way towards his bathroom to take a shower.</p>
<p>Never has he been so thankful for cheating with the private bathroom.</p>
<p>__________</p>
<p>Nico stared at his wardrobe after his shower. Has it always been so bleak? He looked at the oversized red hoodie Jason brought for him when he tore through his clothes during his first shift.</p>
<p>It was too....bright for his taste and the stupid quote on it still pissed him off but it was big and soft and Nico felt more loose and relaxed than he has in a while.</p>
<p>It was already around 4:30pm and he didn't have any classes to attend so what did he have to lose?</p>
<p>Decision made, Nico pulled on the big hoodie along with a fresh pair of boxer shorts. The hoodie was big enough that it fell down to his mid thigh - completely covering his boxers and hands.</p>
<p>Nico sighed as a knock on his door stopped him from being one with his bed again. He contemplated telling whoever it was to fuck off or sicking Jules Albert on them but he was <em>too</em> content with his recent activities to bother and just decided to pretend he wasn't in. It was probably just Jason anyway.</p>
<p>"Nico!" A familiar voice called from outside.</p>
<p>His heart skipped a beat as he got up and opened the door.</p>
<p>Will Solace was standing on the other side of his threshold in a red checked flannel over a white undershirt and jeans with a box of strawberries in his hands.</p>
<p>"Will. Hi." Nico tried <em>very hard</em> not to think about his previous thoughts involving the aforementioned son of Apollo.</p>
<p>"Hey Nic-" Will choked as he took in Nico's outfit, eyes dragging over the dark haired boy's skinny frame and lingering on his bare legs.</p>
<p>A blush covered Nico's cheeks as he tried to pull the hem of the hoodie lower. "Uh, I was having a me day?" He offered as an explanation.</p>
<p>Will's eyes snapped back to his face from his legs. "Right-" the blond cleared his throat as his voice came out sounding too thin, "Right. You look nice."</p>
<p>As embarrassed as the son of hades was to stand in front of his crush in such a ridiculous outfit, he couldn't help but smile at how clearly effected Will was because of it. It felt nice to be noticed like that.</p>
<p>"Well I noticed you skipped breakfast and lunch today so- uh I brought some strawberries for you. Apollo was on picking duty today." Will explained as he thrusted the box of strawberries towards him.</p>
<p>"Oh"</p>
<p>Nico's affection for the blond grew ten folds at the sweet gesture while his wolf went crazy at the prospect of Will courting him back.</p>
<p>He saw a fond smile settle on Will's face from the corner of his eyes as he pushed the sleeves of the hoodie back to expose his hands.</p>
<p>
  <em>Bye bye reputation. You will be missed. </em>
</p>
<p>"Thankyou. Today has been such a rollercoaster I didn't even notice." Nico said bashfully as he accepted the box. Their hands brushed together briefly and his skin tingled even after Will dropped his hold.</p>
<p>Will's face seemed a little red as he rubbed the back of his neck. "No problem. I should get going though, I have AP Mathmatics with Malcolm in a few minutes."</p>
<p>Chiron arranged normal High school classes for the children who stayed year round after summer. He taught a few elder campers topics they were interested in, following which, said campers held classes for the younger age groups in those departments. Nico himself took World History and Languages with Annabeth on Wednesdays and Fridays and Law with Laurel from Nike on Tuesdays.</p>
<p>"Oh yeah, of course. Right after I thankyou properly." Nico replied with red cheeks as an idea popped in his head.</p>
<p>
  <em>"I'd rather go with happy memories than with What if's."</em>
</p>
<p>Mitchell's words in his head further cemented his decision.</p>
<p>"Oh no, you don't have to-" Will started but Nico cut him off by stepping closer, rising on his tiptoes and placing a lingering kiss on his right cheek.</p>
<p>He leaned in further, dragging his lips softly against the tan skin till they brushed against the shell of the blond's ear and whispered a husky thankyou.</p>
<p>Nico grinned as he felt a shiver go down Will's body and pulled back to see the son of Apollo gaping at him before he entered his cabin and closed the door.</p>
<p>He leaned against it and his smile widened as he heard a little squeal from outside, followed by retreating footsteps which <em>definately </em>had a skip in them.</p>
<p>His heart was doing jumping jacks in his chest and his wolf was so happy that if wolves could purr he'd be doing it right now.</p>
<p>There was no denying it anymore. It was definitely more than just 'like' for him.</p>
<p>He was <em>falling in love </em>with that dork.</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>____</p>
</div><p> </p>
<p>Nico entered the dining pavilion for dinner dressed back in his usual black attire.</p>
<p>He saw Mitchell shoot him a smile and returned it awkwardly before his gaze automatically darted to the Apollo table.</p>
<p>Will was engaged in a conversation with Riley, a newly claimed child of Apollo. Will had once pulled him aside to tell him Riley was gender fluid and preferred them/they pronouns.</p>
<p>Nico didn't really understand how that worked but Annabeth had mentioned it wasn't necessary he understood all the terms in the LGBT+ community as long as he respected them all. It had taken some time and lots of conversations with Annabeth and Will to finally silence the whispers of "<em>this is wrong</em>" in his head and being able to respect every person for who they were.</p>
<p>His eyes focused on Will as he threw his head back and laughed at something Austin said.</p>
<p>
  <em>Gods, how can someone look so beautiful when they laugh.</em>
</p>
<p>Will must've felt Nico throwing hopeless hearteyes at him because a split second later sky blue eyes met his own dark brown ones.</p>
<p>Will's face split into a bright smile and Nico's poor heart ricocheted in his chest as he waved at the blond awkwardly.</p>
<p>"I see you finally decided to grace the dining pavilion with your presence." Percy said as Nico took a seat across from him on the big three table. Jason wasn't anywhere in sight.</p>
<p>"Where's Jason?" He asked, ignoring Percy's previous comment entirely.</p>
<p>"Don't know, I haven't seen him since lunch today." Percy replied as he stuffed his face with blue pancake.</p>
<p>Nico wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Are you eating pancakes for dinner?"</p>
<p>Percy raised an eyebrow as he pointed at him with his fork, "Pancakes are elite food young man, and elite food can't be confined to a particular time."</p>
<p>Nico rolled his eyes. He wasn't even surprised anymore.</p>
<p>What kind of weird sex was Sally having with Poseidon when she got pregnant with Percy? Or maybe it wasn't the sex but Poseidon's sperms which were weird. Do gods even have sperms or do they have weird holy cum?</p>
<p>Oh gods, Sally had sex with Poseidon to have Percy. Ew. And his own mother had sex with Hades...that means they were naked and he.....ew ew ew.</p>
<p>Nico shook his head to get ride of the gross thoughts.</p>
<p>He needs to find bleach. Lots of it. Preferably enough to drown in it. <em>Now. </em></p>
<p>
  <em>Mitchell has scarred me for life. I will never be the same again. </em>
</p>
<p>"Let's finish eating and go check on Jason" Nico offered.</p>
<p>He had put a lot of effort into decorating the son of Jupiter's face earlier and there was no way in hell he was missing the aftermath.</p>
<p>Percy shifted on his seat nervously before clearing his throat, "Oh, sorry man, I can't. Grover is at camp today, I got plans of catching up with him"</p>
<p>
  <em>Huh, not suspicious at all. </em>
</p>
<p>"You okay Jackson?"</p>
<p>"Hm what? Oh yes, I'm great! Just had a weird conversation with Annabeth is all"</p>
<p>Nico had a suspicion their conversation was similar to the one Jason had with Piper but he left it that.</p>
<p>Right now, he had a best friend to embarrass.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I think there is something wrong with ao3 o_o'  is my computer glitching or do I really see 200kudos?!? ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄ Oh my god you guys (*´ω｀*) thankyou so so so much (T-T )&lt;3 </p>
<p>Apologies if the smut was awkward or not good enough :3 This was quite literally the first time I wrote any kind of smut and I personally don't have a dick myself so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I tried my best. </p>
<p>I promise I'll improve alot by the time we get to the real stuff &lt;3 </p>
<p>Nevertheless I hope you guys enjoyed! :D Let me know what you guys think about it in the comments and leave kudos of you liked it (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧</p>
<p>I hope you stay safe and happy! :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nico knocked on the Zeus cabin for the third time.</p><p>"Jason! Open the damn door!"</p><p>A muffled "No! Go away" reverberated from the inside and he sighed.</p><p>Alright. He'll do it the hard way then.</p><p>The son of Hades entered a dense shadow and shadowtravelled into the Zeus cabin.</p><p>Nico almost screamed when he came face to face with a massive statue of Zeus standing in the dead centre of the cabin.</p><p>And then burst out laughing when he saw Jason's wide eyed expression.</p><p>Oh what a <em>lovely</em> sight he walked in on.</p><p>The son of Jupiter was trying to remove the makeup with a wet cloth and it was <em>not</em> working for him.</p><p>The glitter from the eyeshadow had spread all over his face while the ruined dark blue eyeshadow and mascara around his eyes made him look like a raccoon. The smudged maroon lipstick around his lips gave him a "just madeout with death" look and the smudged blood red lipstick on his forehead (which unfortunately didn't spell dick anymore) made it seem like Jason face planted a wall. Hard.</p><p>"Trying a new beauty routine Grace?" Nico managed to say between his bursts of laughter. "It looks <em>lovely</em>."</p><p>"Shut up! I bet Drew did this." He bellow while violently rubbing at his eyes with the wet cloth, succeeding in achieving nothing except spreading the glitter further.</p><p>Nico didn't bother correcting the son of Jupiter as he snorted. "Gods, I wish I had a camera right now"</p><p>"It won't even get off! I think she cursed me with parmanent makeup." </p><p>Nico watched in amusement as Jason threw the poor innocent cloth on the floor petulantly and, for lack of a better word, sulked.</p><p>"That's just waterproof makeup Jason, are you sure a wet cloth is the smartest strategy to go about it?"</p><p>"Do you think I carry makeup wipes Nico? And-....wait a minute. How do <em>you</em> know that?"</p><p>Jason glared at him with narrowed eyes and Nico prayed to every god in existence that the grin threatening at the corner of his lips won't show to no avail.</p><p>
  <em>Where's the camera when you need it? </em>
</p><p>"You!" Jason exclaimed in betrayal which looked <em>hilarious</em> considering he looked like a clown.</p><p>"Don't leave me waiting for two hours while you're getting laid next time!" Nico rebuked.</p><p>Surprise coloured the blond's features.</p><p>"You waited <em>that</em> long?"</p><p>Nico felt offended at the surprise in the son of Jupiter's tone. He was many things, but unreliable wasn't one of them. Jason was his best friend, did the blond really think so less of him?</p><p>"Of course I did. You asked me too, didn't you?"</p><p>Jason's eyes widened at his indignant tone before a remorseful look took its place.</p><p>"Shit I'm so sorry Nico, I totally forgot about it!"</p><p>"Hence why you deserved the makeover" Nico remarked with a scowl.</p><p>He eventually gave in (when Jason had grovelled enough) and got makeup removal wipes from Mitchell.</p><p>"So, what did Piper say?" He asked as he plowed down on the bed situated in the only region not within the staring range of the creepy statue of Zeus.</p><p>
  <em>Seriously, who was sadist enough to put it there? </em>
</p><p>A slight blush covered the son of Jupiter's now clean face as he situated himself beside Nico on the bed, placing his glasses on the bridge of his nose.</p><p>"Well, she said she's known about my infatuation with Percy for a while and she's secure enough in our relationship to not feel threatened by it."</p><p>"That's great!" Nico was glad his advice hadn't fucked up Jason's relationship or he might've drowned himself in guilt.</p><p>But Jason still seemed jittery and the slight redness had amplified to a full blown blush running down to his collarbones.</p><p>
  <em>I wonder if Will blushes with his whole body. </em>
</p><p>Nico forced himself to focus on the blond in front of him and not the one which frequents his dreams.</p><p>"That's not all, is it?"</p><p>Jason worried his bottom lip with his teeth as he shook his head.</p><p>"She said if I was curious about my sexuality and if Percy consents then....uh we can sort of experiment?"</p><p>If Jason had told him this 24 hours ago Nico would've had an identity crisis and a 'curse the 21st century' fest, but he's learnt so many things today that he didn't even bother wondering how the fuck something like that will work.</p><p>If he can accept people licking assholes for fun then why not, he might as well roll with this as well.</p><p>"Okay, and what do you think about this?" He questioned as he got comfortable on the bed.</p><p>"I don't know, I'll admit I'm curious about it, but what if it changes my relationship with Piper?"</p><p>Nico rolled his eyes. "Jason if you're gonna experiment with another guy, it's <em>obviously </em>going to change your relationship with her." Jason looked even more distressed by the end of his apparently <em>very unhelpful </em>conclusion so Nico hurriedly added, "But the change doens't have to be a bad thing"</p><p>The blue eyed boy looked at him with adverse. "What do you mean?"</p><p>"Well, Piper clearly trust you enough to experiment with Percy and still be loyal to her emotionally. This step may strengthen that trust and understanding between you two" he explained, then added at little sceptically, "It may also bring you and Percy closer as friends."</p><p>Truth be told, Nico was a little worried Jason may become best friends with Percy and forget him in the process, but he didn't voice those concerns. Jason had enough to worry about already.</p><p>The blond looked at him in surprise.</p><p>"Wow Neeks, since when are you so mature?"</p><p>Nico glared, "I'm more mature than you and Percy combined Grace." But his expression eased a little on his next words, "And I guess I've realised change isn't always a bad thing."</p><p>Insite of his previous claim, it was true that Nico had matured a lot more in the past five months than he did in the past five years.</p><p>Sometimes, he wondered how different things would've been if he hadn't run away that first time. Maybe he would've had a home a long time ago.</p><p>Briefly he promised himself to make an effort to face his problems rather than running away from them.</p><p>"I'm proud of how far you've come Neeks" Jason said with a soft smile on his face.</p><p>Nico felt his face get hotter. He didn't know how to accept compliments but it felt nice to hear someone was proud of the progress he's made.</p><p>"Thanks" He whispered a little shyly as he avoided Jason's eyes.</p><p>"So what are you going to do now?" The son of Hades asked in a bid to divert the attention from himself.</p><p>Jason gave a tired sigh as he fixed his glasses. "I don't know, I'll think about it. I mean, there's also the fact that Percy leaves for home day after tomorrow and I have to leave for camp Jupiter as well, so even if something happens, it'll have to wait till we're both at camp."</p><p>He should probably visit Camp Jupiter soon as well. It's been a while since he glared at Frank and warned him to behave himself around his sister.</p><p>"I think you should talk about it with Percy before he leaves"</p><p>Jason got up from the bed, clearly done with this conversation for now.</p><p>"Maybe I will, but enough about this. Let's go to the campfire, I need myself some marshmallows."</p><p>And who was Nico to argue with that?</p><p> </p><p></p><div>
  <p>____</p>
</div><p> </p><p>Jason was busy shoving marshmallows in his face when Nico saw Percy approach them with an edgy look on his face.</p><p>
  <em>This is going to be interesting. </em>
</p><p>The son of Poseidon nodded at him in greeting before directing his wary gaze on the blond.</p><p>"Hey bro, I was wondering if we could talk."</p><p>Jason looked at Percy with a deer in the headlights look as he struggled to swallow the fuckton of marshmallows in his mouth and wipe his hand on his jeans simultaneously.</p><p>Nico was disappointed when Jason didn't choke even a little. Shame.</p><p>"Y-yeah, of course man! What's up?" Nico snorted at Jason's stutter but promptly looked the other way when the blond glared at him.</p><p>"Oh...do you mind if we go somewhere a little more private?" Percy muttered as he scratched his neck nervously.</p><p>"Of course! Hold on"</p><p>Jason stood up and, like the complete <em>moron </em>he was, dumped all his wrappers on Nico's lap without a second thought.</p><p>"Hey! Throw your trash!"</p><p>Jason gave an overdramatic gasp with a hand on his heart. "I could never throw you Neeks"</p><p>Nico glared when Jason dodged the marshmallow he threw at him. How inconsiderate.</p><p>As the two left the Amphitheatre, the son of Hades's gaze instinctively slid to the log Will Solace and his siblings were occupying.</p><p>The firewood illuminated his tan features an ethereal gold while his messy hair haloed his face perfectly.</p><p>Nico stared transfixed, as the blond bit into a s'more, his face twisting in delight at the sweet treat and tongue coming out to lick his pink lips clean.</p><p>Up till now, Nico didn't know it was possible to be envious of a roasted marshmallow.</p><p>His <em>very </em>delightful thirsting session was cut short by two girls rudely blocking his view. He looked up in annoyance with a snide remark on the tip of his tongue and come face to face with Annabeth and Piper.</p><p>"What." He deadpanned.</p><p>"Are you coming or not?" Annabeth asked impatiently, as if he's supposed to know what the fuck she's talking about.</p><p>"Coming where?"</p><p>"To spy on those two idiots ofcourse." Piper said in a obvious tone. Ofcourse.</p><p>"Why?" Nico was fairly sure Annabeth had told Percy the same thing Piper had told Jason, so why would they want to spy on them now?</p><p>"We just want to make sure things go smoothly and none of them chicken out. Figured you'd want to join."</p><p>"I don't."</p><p>Frankly, he'd like to go back to his 'shooting hearteyes at Will Solace' session, thankyou very much.</p><p>"Don't matter, you're coming."</p><p>With that, the two grabbed each one of his arms and dragged him out of the Amphitheatre with them.</p><p>Nico will <em>never</em> understand the female species.</p><p>____</p><p>"I will scream" He threatened as the girls dragged him into the woods where Jason and Percy had disappeared.</p><p>"What are you, ten?" Annabeth asked with a roll of her eyes.</p><p>"I don't want to intrude on them! What if they find out and get mad?"</p><p>Piper snorted, "Nico, those two are the biggest exhibitionists I've met. They're always trying to one up on each other. Do you really think they'll mind having witnesses while trying to dominate each other?"</p><p>Nico was about the retaliate with something witty when he picked up voices and crouched behind a bush.</p><p>"What is it?" Piper whispered as they both followed him down.</p><p>"I heard something, they're close."</p><p>"I don't hear anything though" Annabeth said with a frown.</p><p>"Well I do, so shut up and follow my lead"</p><p>Annabeth looked at him with an assessing gaze and Nico painted an indifferent poker face.</p><p>He slowly made his way towards where the voices were coming from, his nose following the familiar scent of storm and seawater.</p><p>They stopped behind a bush overseeing a small patch of grass occupied by the two sons of the big three.</p><p>Both of them were red in the face and standing awkwardly, as if they didn't really know how to act.</p><p>"So, you're game?" Percy asked nervously.</p><p>"Yeah" Jason squeaked before clearing his throat and trying again, "Yeah, w-we can experiment when we get back to camp."</p><p>"Cool"</p><p>"Yeah, cool"</p><p>Percy went for a fist bump but Jason raised his hand for a high five and they both ended up dropping their hands limply in embarrassment. </p><p>Nico saw Annabeth rubbing her temple like she could already feel an oncoming headache and sympathized.</p><p>Can these two be <em>any</em> more awkward?</p><p>Even <em>he </em>wasn't that awkward around Will. Or atleast, he hoped so.</p><p>"Ugh- should we kiss or something? You know...to test the waters." Jason asked uncertainly.</p><p>Percy cleared his throat and shifted on his feet, "Yeah. I think we should."</p><p>The three demigods in the bushes watched in amusement as the two idiots leaned in with <em>very </em>different momentum and <em>completely </em>wrong angles and bashed into each other's skulls.</p><p>Percy and Jason parted cursing and apologizing while clutching their foreheads.</p><p>The girls snorted and Nico noticed how Percy and Jason tensed briefly. Their eyes darted towards the bushes where the three were taking refuge and a silent conversation passed between them. It was dark enough that Piper and Annabeth couldn't pick up on the exchange but thanks to his wolf instincts, Nico had clear night vision.</p><p>He was just about the shadowtravel them out of there to avoid any awkward confrontations when something unexpected happened.</p><p>Percy took a deep breath before marching towards Jason with steel determination in his eyes. Nico's mouth hung open as the son of Poseidon pushed the blond into a tree before gripping his hair and smashing their lips together.</p><p>Jason let out a surprised grunt before he gripped Percy's collar and flipped them so the dark haired boy was pressed against the tree as their lips moved together passionately.</p><p>Percy moaned in surprise as Jason pressed in closer to get the upper hand, their mouths making slick wet noises as they battled for dominance.</p><p>Never one to back down easily, the son of Poseidon hitched up his thigh firmly between Jason's legs while one of his hands slipped under his shirt making the blond's groan echo in the area and <em>fuck</em>, Nico was <em>very very gay. </em></p><p>He had no feelings or attraction towards any of his two friends but Nico had eyes. He could admit both of them were objectively good looking and currently looked <em>very </em>hot locked together.</p><p>Nico heard a breathy "<em>fuck" </em>from one of the girls and honestly, same.</p><p>Percy and Jason separated with a wet sound, which had <em>no </em>business sounding that hot, both of them red in the face and breathing heavily.</p><p>"Yep. I'm bisexual." Percy whispered to himself, soft enough that no one in the area but Nico could pick it up.</p><p>Jason let out a cough before chuckling a little, "Yeah, we're definitely exploring that when we return."</p><p>Percy gave a short laugh of his own as the awkwardness between them melted to nothing.</p><p>"Definitely. Hopefully our little audience enjoyed the show as well." Percy said with his green eyes twinkling with mischief.</p><p>Nico felt embarrassment flood his veins at the acknowledgement. Hopefully the two didn't know about his involvement as well.</p><p>The girls cursed softly in Greek before Piper tapped him on the shoulder and he shadowtraveled the three of them to the entrance of the Amphitheatre.</p><p>"We're never doing that again" Nico said as soon as they stepped out of the shadows. It was necessary for his own sanity.</p><p>Piper and Annabeth looked a little woozy from the fast travel but nodded after a second.</p><p>"Agreed. That was too hot to be good for my health." Piper said, still looking a little pale from the shadowtravel.</p><p>"<em>Or</em>" Annabeth offered as she smirked at Piper, "we could negotiate voyeuristic rights with them when they're comfortable enough with eachother." </p><p>Piper got a smirk of her own at whatever <em>that</em> meant, "I like the way your think Chase"</p><p>"Okay, please exclude me from any of these plans ladies" Nico said gesturing between them and met two sets of puppy dog eyes.</p><p>"No." He deadpanned.</p><p>He wanted nothing to do with whatever weird relationship these four had.</p><p>Annabeth huffed in defiance, "killjoy."</p><p>Nico rolled his eyes and entered the Amphitheatre only to be knocked to the floor by Kyle Atkinson marching towards the exit with a mad look in his eyes.</p><p>"Hey, you okay?" Riley from the Apollo cabin asked as they offered Nico their hand to help him get off the ground.</p><p>"Yeah, what's up with that asshole?" The son of Hades asked as he brushed the dirt away from his black jeans.</p><p>"Lol, he refused to take a hint and leave Will alone so today Solace made it exceptionally clear he wasn't interested in him at. all. It was hilarious but it may have seemed a bit harsh in front of everyone at the campfire." They explained.</p><p>Nico's wolf growled in satisfaction at that news and his heart flattered at the possibility of Will rejecting Kyle because he was interested in <em>him.</em></p><p>Later that night, if Nico dreamed about himself and Will in place of Jason and Percy in the woods, then no one had to know. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Y'all asked for Jercy so here you go :D </p><p>I was kind of hesitant writting them spy because as a writer I know what I write can influence other people and spying isn't all that morally right. However, I'd like to stress that Annabeth and Piper only thought of doing it because they knew their boyfriends wouldn't particularly mind. </p><p>I don't know how much Jercy there will be in the following chapter, but let's see where the characters take this story :D </p><p>I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know in the comments and leave kudos if you liked it &lt;3 </p><p>Stay Safe and Happy!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>!!Warning!! for thoughts of bloodlust but no actual bloodshed. (Or, more like minor bloodshed)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nico was woken up, rather rudely, by Clarisse almost knocking his door off its hinges.</p><p>"Holy Hera, what the fuck do you have against furniture and fixtures lady?" Nico grumbled as he got off his bed.</p><p>"Oh. You changed things around here." Clarisse said as she took in the cabin's interior. "Shame. The Ares cabin put effort into the last decorations you know?" </p><p>Nico glared at her at that. "It was you? Do I look like a vampire to you?"</p><p>The buff girl looked at him with disinterested and gave an unbothered shrug.</p><p>Nico sighed in irritation. It was too early for this.</p><p>"Is there a reason you're trespassing into my cabin and disturbing my very peaceful sleep?"</p><p>"Like hell there is Zombie breath. Capture the Flag in an hour, I want you on the field in five to discuss strategy."</p><p>"I thought I told you to stop calling me that?" Nico scowled up at the buff daughter of Ares.</p><p>"No. You told me not to call you Death breath. I didn't." Clarisse stated with an eye roll before she promptly turned on her heels and left.</p><p>Nico sighed and looked at the digital clock on his bedside table which displayed 9:25AM in neon red.</p><p><em>Wonderful</em>.</p><p>Why the fuck do people even get up before 11am? What force in the universe can <em>possibly</em> compel someone to get up at ass o'clock and be <em>fine </em>with it?</p><p>If Nico woke up before 11AM he'd throw a few curses at the gods and go the fuck back to sleep!</p><p>
  <em>Uncultured fucks. All of them. </em>
</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>_______</p>
</div><p> </p><p>The teams were well divided. Nico had to give it to Clarisse- she knew how to getting strong cabins on their side.</p><p>The red team had Ares, Apollo, Hades, Hephaestus, Hermes, Dionysus, Hypnos, Tyche and Hecate.</p><p>The blue team had Poseidon, Zeus, Demeter, Athena, Aphrodite, Iris, Nemesis, Nike and Hebe.</p><p>Their strategy was simple yet smart. Apollo and Dionysus cabins will be within two meters of their Flag because children of Apollo were best long range fighters and Pollux, the son of Dionysus could do some pretty wicked things with the vines and could send small pulses of madness which lasted only for a few seconds but were enough to break the enemy's formation.</p><p>Hacate campers will use to mist to confuse the opposing charging team while the Hypnos campers will put them to sleep.</p><p>Ares and Hephaestus will be leading their charging teams to cause a distraction that will give the Hermes campers and Nico a chance to sneak into the Blue team's defences and go for the flag while Chiara from Tyche will be defending their Flag with her half-sister.</p><p>Nico felt eyes on him while discussing techniques with Cecil and looked up to meet sky blue eyes. Will blushed at the unexpected eye contact and rushed off to get the year-rounder medics - Violet, Casper and Riley - organised.</p><p>While Will, as the counselor, decided which team Apollo would fight for, Kayla was the one who actually lead the charge.</p><p>Capture the Flag was a game designed to prepare them for war, therefore, every camper honed their particular skill set in it. That's why while the rest fought, Will lead a separate team of medics-in-training who weren't a part of any of the two teams.</p><p>Their job was to get to the wounded, parry all attacks and decided if the condition was serious enough to get the camper off field or treat them on the spot.</p><p>It was because of this training Will and the Apollo healers didn't burnt out as combat medics during the two wars.</p><p>Nico's eyes darted to Will as Chiron repeated the rules. Everytime he caught a glance of him or noticed the blond looking at him, his heart skipped a beat.</p><p>Ever since his realisation yesterday, that he might be falling for the blond healer, Nico felt vulnerable around the son of Apollo.</p><p>He knew Will atleast liked him a little. But he had no way of knowing if the blond was merely infatuated with him or if his feelings were serious.</p><p>Unfortunately Mitchell's peptalk did not give him enough balls to confront the son of Apollo about it.</p><p>__</p><p>At exactly 10:30am the conch horn blew and the battle began.</p><p>For a moment, Nico was overwhelmed by all the war noises and it took him a moment to gather his thoughts and get used to his heightened werewolf senses during battle.</p><p>At one point, an explosive triggered to his right by a Hephaestus camper  disoriented him enough that he gave away his position. While trying to get his bearings, Nico caught a few snippets of conversation within the Blue team's defence line.</p><p>".... rejecting.....who does he think he is......son of Nemesis...... revenge today...."</p><p>However, he didn't have much time to think about it as Jason descended on him with a battle cry.</p><p>Nico grinned. "Grace. Are we doing another skincare routine tonight?"</p><p>Jason grinned as he blocked Nico's sword with his own. "So that's how we're playing it huh? Fine. You're on di Angelo."</p><p>Jason clearly had no left over guilt from yesterday as he aimed for Nico's armed hand, trying to disarm and take him prisoner.</p><p>While battling the son of Jupiter, he heard two short whistles to his left. Cecil's signal to go for the flag.</p><p>Nico pretended he was having difficulty parrying Jason as he let the blond land a few minor blows and resided till one of his leg was within a tree's shadow.</p><p>"Not so cocky now, are you Neeks?" Jason smirked, totally buying Nico's fake struggles.</p><p>That was the problem with sons of the Big Three, they always tried to one-up on eachother in a fight, not even thinking for a second that it could bejust an illusion.</p><p>When they locked their swords again Nico twisted with the momentum and kicked Jason in the stomach with enough force that their swords unlocked.</p><p>Jason lost focus for a split second but it was enough for Nico to hit him with the butt of his sword as he slipped into the shadows and appeared besides the blue flag.</p><p>Cecil and Eve from Hermes were engaged in battle with two Demeter campers but Nico didn't wait long enough to witness the outcome as he grabbed the flag and made a dash for the creek.</p><p>He was aware of Clarisse, Connor and Jake Mason covering his retreat as they stopped everyone from getting to him. He was also aware of Jason controlling the winds to make him lose balance, but he was too fast to be affected by them.</p><p>And then it happened.</p><p>His eyes caught a blur of gold and as he neared the creek, he noticed Will crouched beside an injured camper a split second before the blur of gold, which he now realized was a spear, embedded itself in Will's right arm.</p><p>He stopped in his tracks as his muscles freezed up like <em>he </em>was the one who got impaled. Inspite of all the battle noises, Will's scream of pain echoed in his ears. His eyes followed the trajectory the spear had followed to a lanky 5'11 red haired boy currently trying to sneak off into the woods undetected. Kyle Atkinson, the son of Nemesis who has been hitting on Will for months and got rejected yesterday. The conversation he overheard in the woods came back to him as he assigned a face to that voice.</p><p>He didn't even registered Clarisse screaming at him to run for the creek as his vision tunnelled on the son of Nemesis who caused <em>his </em>Will pain.</p><p>A spine chilling growl escaped his throat as the scent of Will's blood reached his nose.</p><p>Time seemed to have slowed down as his dropped the blue flag and leaped at the son of Nemesis. Any voices or movement in the area didn't register in his mind as he tackled Kyle to the floor and snarled at him.</p><p>
  <em>"How dare you hurt him."</em>
</p><p>He pinned the boy under him as he bared his teeth.</p><p>
  <em>"People like you don't even deserve to breath the same air as him."</em>
</p><p>Nico vision turned red as bloodlust overpowered him. He wanted to hurt him, draw blood, shred his body <em>limb by limb</em>, make him <em>scream</em> in pain till the last drop on blood left his shredded body.</p><p>An assertive voice cut through the roar of blood in his ears.</p><p>"Stop. Stand down. Do <em>not</em> attack."</p><p>His limbs loosed against his will and Nico looked up to see Piper, her voice thick with charmspeak. </p><p>That's when Nico took note of his surroundings. Will, Jason and Chiron were trying to keep the campers at bay.</p><p>He heard Will shout "Archers hold you fire! Do not shoot!"</p><p>
  <em>Shoot at what? </em>
</p><p>Jason and Chiron was shouting something similar. Percy and Annabeth took their lead and ordered the campers not to attack.</p><p>
  <em>What was happening? </em>
</p><p>Will turned towards him with wary eyes. Someone had taken out the spear from his arm but it was still bleeding heavily. The sight of the son of Apollo's blood caused another wave of anger to wash over him as he growled down at Kyle again.</p><p>"Nico <em>no. </em>Stop." Will ordered.</p><p>A silence fell over the gathering at Will's words.</p><p>"Look at me Nico." Will said again as he approached him slowly. "I want you to get off of him."</p><p><em>"But he hurt you! He wanted to take revenge on you for rejecting him." </em>He growled back.</p><p>"He's saying Kyle planned the attack. He wanted to take revenge on you for rejecting him." Jason repeated his words.</p><p><em>"That's what I said Grace, why are you repeating my words?" </em>He huffed in irritation.</p><p>"I- uh...Neeks you-" Jason cut himself off before he could complete his sentence.</p><p>"Nico." The son of Hades directed his gaze back to Will. The gathered demigods were still silent. What's up with them?</p><p>"I want you to get off of him and shift back."</p><p>Nico felt like he'd been shot as he repeated the words in his head.</p><p>
  <em>I want you to get off of him and shift back.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Shift back. </em>
</p><p>With dread in his stomach Nico looked down at himself and sure enough, where there should've been his armour covered chest was a thick layer of grey fur.</p><p>
  <em>No. No, Gods please no. This couldn't be happening.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Just when I thought I had a chance. A chance to have a home. </em>
</p><p>With wide eyes Nico looked at the faces of the present campers. Most of the campers looked shocked or horrified, some even looked downright terrified. Percy had a hurt look in his eyes, while Clovis was wide awake. Even Clarisse seemed taken aback while Chiron had a sad smile on his face.</p><p>The ball of dread in his stomach got denser as his heart sped up.</p><p>They were all looking at him in shocked tense silence. Or maybe they were worried he was going to Kill Kyle Atkinson.</p><p><em>Was</em> he going to Kill Kyle Atkinson?</p><p>Nico looked down at the son of Nemesis again. For the first time he took in his terrified expression andrealized he had him pinned to the ground by his claws at his arms, not hard enough to draw blood <em>yet,</em> but still tight enough to leave inflamed red welts for days.</p><p>There was still a strong desire in him to dig his claws deeper, to embed them in the red head's arms till he reached bone and <em>drag </em>them down till the wrists he used the throw that spear, to relish in his screams for mercy.</p><p>Panic mixed with the roaring bloodlust as he jumped off of the boy with difficulty and met Will's pleading eyes. He didn't understand <em>what </em>Will was pleading him for. To not kill Kyle? To not go homicidal? Did he think Nico was a monster for attacking Kyle like this?</p><p>But Kyle deserved it. He attacked Will first. He deserved to <em>bleed </em>rivers of blood while he cried in pain.</p><p>Nico saw Will attempt to approach him again but it was all too much. The stares, the silence, the pleading look in Will's eyes and his own violent desires.</p><p>In the midst of his rising panic he did the only thing he could think about: get out of there. With a leap, he landed in one of the denser shadows in the area and shadowtravelled back to his cabin.</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>____</p>
</div><p> </p><p>Nico materialized in his cabin and concentrated on his breathing, desperately trying to calm down enough to think through the haze of panic making his limbs feel heavy.</p><p>He didn't really succeed in achieving all of it but he did manage to calm down enough to shift.</p><p>The bloodlust overpowering his mind eased as his wolf instincts took a back seat.</p><p>He didn't even bother covering himself as he made his way towards the door on shakey legs and locked it.</p><p>As soon the the soft <em>click! </em>echoed through the room he slid down to the floor, raspy heavy breaths escaping past his lips. He felt the sting of tears at his eyes before the first choked sob broke free.</p><p>Nico curled up on the cold floor, trying to make himself as small as possible as gravity pulled his tears horizontally over the bridge of his nose and onto the tile beneath.</p><p>Just when he had began feeling hopeful about telling everyone the full truth, it came out in the most <em>ugliest</em> way possible.</p><p>Sobs wrecked his body as everyone's expressions circled around his mind.</p><p>He lost control. He didn't even realise when he shifted.</p><p>He didn't mourn the fact that he jumped on Kyle, that fucker deserved it for throwing that spear at Will. What he regretted was what he was about to do.</p><p>His previous violent thought came back to him as he sniffed through his stuffed nose. It wasn't him in the clearing today. Nico may believe in delivering justice but he wasn't <em>cruel. </em>He didn't desire bloodshed. And yet. Yet he had been craving that very thing just moments ago.</p><p>He has no doubt that he would've hurt Kyle if Piper hadn't stopped him. How far would he have gone? Would he have just left deep gashes on his arms or would he have ripped his arms clean off?</p><p>Would he have stopped at that?</p><p>Or, would he have gone further?</p><p>He could've <em>killed </em>Kyle for all he knew.</p><p>Nico didn't know. And he was glad Piper eliminated the possibility of him finding out. <em>Today</em>.</p><p>Does that make his a monster? He wonders how many campers who witnessed him transform thought that about him now as another sob built up in his throat.</p><p>How can anyone at camp trust him around them now? How can <em>he </em>trust <em>himself</em> around others campers now? He was blinded by bloodlust on the first surge of anger. What guarantee did he have that it wouldn't happen again? None.</p><p>Everything will probably go back to how it was after the Titan war, with the disgusted glances and whispered questions of "<em>why is he still here?" </em>behind his back.</p><p>Hiccuped breaths escaped his lips as he tried to suck in air between his unrelenting sobs.</p><p>He wonders if the outcome would've been any different if he had told everyone about this before.</p><p>Sure, maybe the campers would've given him a chance after knowing the truth. But how long would <em>that</em> have lasted before he lost control like he did today?</p><p>It was clear he didn't know as much about his wolf instincts as he thought. It was <em>stupid</em> of him to believe he understood it when he's shifted a solid of two times till date.</p><p>Maybe he made a mistake by suppressing the urge to shift every night. Maybe if he had shifted more he would've had a better control over his instincts in wolf form.</p><p>Or maybe he would've just arrived at today's conclusion faster.</p><p>Was he evil?</p><p>His chest heaved as he tried to suppress the sobs but the tears just kept flowing.</p><p>How would Reyna react when she hears about it?</p><p>How will Hazel?</p><p>Will she still accept him as her brother?</p><p>His wolf whined in sorrow in his chest and he felt like bursting into sobs again.</p><p>
  <em>I know buddy. Me too. </em>
</p><p>A part of him wanted to scream and shout at his wolf, tell him it was <em>his</em> fault this was happening to him. But the bigger part of him knew his wolf was merely a part of his own conscience. <em>He </em>didn't understand the instinct enough to control it. <em>He </em>was the one who lost control.</p><p>It was his <em>own</em> god damned fault.</p><p>His wolf whined again but this time it sounded less pitiful and more comforting.</p><p>A sad smile stretched on his face with difficulty, fighting against his features trying to downturn it in the midst of his oncoming tears.</p><p>His eyes burnt from the tears and his throat was thick with emotion. His body felt as heavy as blocks of bricks and his mind was a mess.</p><p>
  <em>I'm sorry. </em>
</p><p>He thought before exhaustion pulled him under. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*dodges the rocks being thrown at me* </p><p>Gotta Zayn bye 🖐️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cruel whispers danced in his ears as the blood red water of the Phlegethon burnt it's way down his throat. Nico looked around at his shredded surroundings, adorned with horrors not known to mankind.</p><p>He hasn't had a Tarturus nightmare since he discovered his soul was still mortal.</p><p>Panic gripped him tighter as he tried to ignore the harsh whispers of "<em>useless", "no one wants you", "monster", "you belong with us down here".</em></p><p>Nico had hoped against hope that he finally left this dreadful place behind. <em>Stupid stupid stupid. </em>He should've known no one ever leaves Tarturus, should've known the dreams would come back with a vengeance when he was at his weakest.</p><p>He tried to get his bearing and concentrate on steering his conscience to dream travel, but inspite of the molten liquid still searing his throat, the poisonous gas seemed to choke him, making it hard to breath.</p><p>A grunt made him look up and the breath got knocked out of him. In front of him stood Lycaon, with his blood red eyes and cruel smile.</p><p>Bile rose in his sore throat as the Lycanthrope king whispered in a voice like grinding glass.</p><p>"<em>There is no escape, son of Hades. You will suffer</em>."</p><p>Nico covered his ears and squeezed his stinging eyes shut. "I can't do this today. I can't, <em>Please</em>.<em>" </em></p><p>He felt a tug at his conscience and clung to it with all his might as screams of misery and Lycaon's laugh echoed around him.</p><p>
  <em>Get out of here, anywhere but here.</em>
</p><p>__</p><p>He woke up with a gasp in a small twin sized bed with pirate ship designed quilt and sheets.</p><p>The walls were painted a striking blue-grey and one of them was covered in crayon drawings of pirate ships, anchors and the crossbones symbol on most of the pirate ship masts.</p><p>Nico couldn't help but smile as he traced one of the crayon drawings with his index finger. The motion seemed so natural, like he'd done it before.</p><p>The room no doubt belonged to a child. Apart from the coloured walls, there were familiar looking toys and cards strewn everywhere. On closer inspection he found that the toys looked familiar because they were Mythomagic figurines and cards. The son of Hades felt a pang in his heart. Sometimes, he wished he never burnt all his cards.</p><p>Pirates and Mythomagic. Whoever this room belonged to obviously had pretty good taste.</p><p>Nico was about to exit the room when he noticed the black and white photo frame of a young pretty looking women with dark hair standing beside an old man who looked in his 60s.  The old man was smiling brightly at the small boy captured mid-laugh in his arms while the women had her arms wrapped around a girl, maybe six years old.</p><p>Nostalgia hit him like a truck. The people in the photograph looked strangely familiar to him. But why? Nico focused on the small boy and girl and felt a shock go through his system as he realised <em>why </em>they looked familiar.</p><p>It was them. Him and Bianca, as kids. But that meant the pretty woman was his mamma and the old man his <em>nonno</em>. <br/>This-this was <em>his </em>childhood room, his quilt, his drawings....his family photo.</p><p>Nico felt tears prick his eyes as he stared at his mamma and his <em>nonno's</em> faces, trying to memorize their every feature. He looked at his own maybe four year old laughing self and a sense of melancholy settled over him. The fates were cruel for raining tragedy on his happy little family, for tearing everyone in this black and white photograph away from Nico's soul and memory.</p><p>But then. The boy from this picture wasn't alive either, was he? The son of Hades wasn't this happy kid anymore, he's changed. How could he have not?</p><p>Nico looked at his six year old, now dead sister and his throat closed up with emotions.</p><p>Losing someone you love changes people and the only memories <em>that</em> happy Nico had were of being Bianca's fratello, her soldato. How could he be her brother and her soldier when she was gone forever? That naive bright eyed Nico had no chance of surviving without her. He <em>had </em>to change to survive.</p><p>"<em>Change isn't always a bad thing" </em>The advice he gave Jason came back to him as happy memories of his friends played in his mind.</p><p>A small weak smile settled on his face as he made a promise. He will become a man they all will be proud of. Someone Bianca will be proud of. She may be gone forever, but he still had memories of her...and maybe that was enough.</p><p>Nico wiped the tears he hadn't notice fall as he made his way out of his childhood room.</p><p>Was this one of his memories? He's never experienced one of them this way.</p><p>The raven walked down the hallway and entered the kitchen. The house seemed empty and quiet.</p><p>"Hello?" He called out into the empty living room and heard a soft huff behind him.</p><p>Instantly attentive, the son of Hades swirled around, reaching for sword as he came face to face with a familiar grey wolf.</p><p>The wolf was the size of any normal wolf but Nico knew it was far from fully grown yet.</p><p>
  <em>Can this dream get any weirder? </em>
</p><p>First he wakes up in his childhood bed and now he's standing in front of his own part-wolf subconscious?</p><p>"Uh hi?" The response sounded lame even to his own ears. His wolf gave another soft huff as it approached him. On instinct, Nico knelt down on one knee so they were face to face.</p><p>"<em>You know what we have to do, don't you?" </em>His wolf huffed softly as it pressed it's snort to Nico's cheek lightly.</p><p>"Yeah. I know." Nico whispered.</p><p>"<em>Then we must hurry. There's not much time left now." </em>His wolf whined in an urgent tone.</p><p>"Time left for what?" Nico questioned, alarmed. He knew what he had to do now, but what was this thing his conscience was warning him about?</p><p>"<em>I think it's time for you to wake up." </em></p><p>___</p><p>Nico eyes snapped open as he took in the dark interior of the Hades cabin. He faintly remembers having a weird dream, but all of it seems <em>just</em> out of his reach.</p><p>He was still on his cabin's floor, his body numb from lying on the cold black marble naked for however long he's been asleep.</p><p>Someone was banging rather insistently on his cabin's door, which thankfully, was still locked from the inside.</p><p>Nico concentrated on the voices on the other side of his threshold.</p><p>"...if he's not in there?" He heard Percy ask.</p><p>"Why else would the door be locked from the inside seaweed brain?" Annabeth replied in an exasperated tone.</p><p>"Then why isn't he opening?"</p><p>"I don't know maybe becaus- "</p><p>"Quit bickering you two." Piper chided.</p><p>"Alright then, I'll just break the door." Jason replied.</p><p>"Do not break my door!" Nico bit his tongue as the words escaped his mouth without his permission.</p><p>There was silence on the other side for a few moments before Percy spoke up.</p><p>"Nico open the door! We just want to talk."</p><p>The raven banged his head lightly against a wall. <em>Ways to fast-forward the inevitable 101. </em></p><p>"How many are you?"</p><p>"Just us four."</p><p>"Talk to eachother then"</p><p>"Nico I swear to the gods, I <em>will </em>break your door." Jason replied in a warning tone.</p><p>Nico sighed miserably. He didn't want to see them, specially now that he was so vulnerable and emotionally drained, but he knew it was going to happen sooner rather than later.</p><p>A part of him was disappointed Will wasn't with them but that was probably for the best.</p><p>With another distressed sigh for good measures he replied in a dry tone.</p><p>"Fine. Give me five minutes."</p><p>Nico fought the urge to puke as he got dressed. He focused on his clothes rather than the possibility of his pack rejecting him.</p><p>The clock on his nightstand displayed a 12:10PM which meant he'd been asleep for less than twenty minutes.</p><p>Stealing a couple seconds to ground himself Nico let the four demigods inside and shut the door behind them.</p><p>He expected them to enter with their guards up, but instead, Percy pulled him into a tight hug as soon as he saw him. He felt a warmth in his heart as the other three join in.</p><p>"Y-you airnt mad?" The son of Hades asked as he blinked away the slight moisture from his eyes.</p><p>"Like hell" Percy said with a scowl as they broke the embrace, "I'm <em>very </em>mad you didn't tell me about this before, I thought you trusted me more than that Nico. But that doesn't mean I don't support you."</p><p>Nico dropped his gaze to his bare feet as shame came over him and the black hole in his stomach grew in size.</p><p>"I'm sorry. I needed time to get used to it." He mumbled with his gaze still fixed on the floor, "I was planning on telling you soon but then...."</p><p>"Its okay Nico, we understand" Annabeth interjected.</p><p>Did they? Nico thoroughly doubted it.</p><p>How can they understand just <em>how </em>unnerving it was to realize he almost gave in to bloodlust?</p><p>He could've <em>killed </em>Kyle. He didn't want to, but he could've.</p><p>Nico remembers the intense desire to feel flesh giving way under his claws and taste blood on his teeth.</p><p>Would he have spared anyone who would've come between him and Kyle or would he have shred them apart as well?</p><p>Jason and Percy were sons of the Big Three, maybe they could understand the distress which came with losing control, but what about the whole camp?</p><p>Will they still accept him among them knowing the threat he posed?</p><p>His body felt more numb by the second as the big possibility of losing his home settled in his very core. </p><p>He'll go back to being the outsider, the outcast, the <em>freak. </em>Homeless and lonely. All alone with nothing but the dead to keep him company.</p><p>He not sure if he can live like that after his five months at camp.</p><p>But maybe he deserved it.</p><p>He's dangerou-</p><p>Nico gasps as lightening hot pain scorches from the side of his face, snapping his face to the left from the force of it.</p><p>He gapes at Piper as he shakily places his hand against the cheek she just slapped.</p><p>"If I <em>ever</em> see that self hatred in your eyes again young man, I swear I will more than slap you." Piper said as her hard eyes pierced through his soul.</p><p>"Piper!" Jason exclaimed with the wide eyed expression mirrored on every other face in the room.</p><p>"What?" Piper fumes, "He was so deep in his self-loathing he wasn't even listening to a word we said!"</p><p>"I was!" Nico defended himself, hand still against the hot stinging skin of his cheek.</p><p>"Oh yeah, then what were we saying just now?" Piper challenged.</p><p>Shit...what were they talking about?</p><p>"I- uh..was apologizing for not telling you before?"</p><p>"What! You didn't hear a word of my heartfelt love confession?!" Percy exclaimed in an offended tone.</p><p>There had been a heartfelt love confession?</p><p>"No, sorry" he muttered bashfully.</p><p>Percy huffed and grumbled "Maybe you deserved that slap after all" under his breath. Nico chose not to acknowledge it because he felt guilty he hadn't been paying attention.</p><p>"Nico, you are our friend, we all will be standing beside you no matter what. You're not alone, you never will be again. I promise." Piper spoke up.</p><p>"But I lost control! I could've caused some serious damage."</p><p>"Yeah, but you didn't." Percy responded with a clenched jaw and a haunted look in his eye, "All of us have the ability to cause mass destruction Neeks. You stopped yourself, <em>that's</em> all that matters."</p><p>"But- "</p><p>"No buts." Annabeth cut him off, "We all make mistakes Nico. And let's be honest, Kyle had it coming."</p><p>Percy, Piper and Jason nodded, "Yeah he did."</p><p>Piper met his eyes again, this time with a soft smile. "We all stick together, no matter what."</p><p>Nico was speechless. How do you react to something like that? He and Piper weren't even particularly close, but he could tell the brunette was being sincere.</p><p>An emotionally stable person would've probably thanked the daughter of Aphrodite for that reassurance, but Nico wasn't an emotionally stable person whatsoever.</p><p>"Did you really have to slap me for that?"</p><p>Percy, Annabeth and Jason were looking at the two of them like they expected a cat fight to break out any second.</p><p>"Not really" the brunette said with a grin, "Consider that payback for the makeup stunt."</p><p>Nico surprised himself by laughing as the weight on his heart eased.</p><p>Here Piper was, not even bothered by the fact that he was a lycanthrope, instead taking a swing at him for a prank he pull on her earlier.</p><p>Even Percy and Annabeth seemed more annoyed at him for not telling them about this before than they were worried about him being a lycanthrope.</p><p>What did he do to deserve such great friends?</p><p>"Thankyou" He whispered softly.</p><p>Jason patted him on the back, "Of course Neeks"</p><p>Of course this didn't make everything right, but for now, Nico let himself soak up the comfort as they all situated themselves on his bed.</p><p>He tried to steel himself for asking how the rest of camp was taking the news but the words stuck in his throat everytime he tried to get them out.</p><p>"You did are really good job while redecorating Nico, it looks really classy" Piper said as she took in the changed interior of the Hades cabin.</p><p>"It wasn't all me, Annabeth helped." Okay so Nico still sucked at accepting compliments, he's pretty sure it's an established fact by now.</p><p>Percy beamed with pride as he slung his arm around Annabeth's shoulders, "My girlfriend is awesome like that."</p><p>"I wish <em>I </em>could redesign my cabin without Zeus taking offence. That statue is downright creepy." Jason said with a shudder.</p><p>"I have four empty beds, you can crash here sometimes if you want" Nico offered. He wasn't particularly eager to share his cabin with anyone but Jason was right, that statue was <em>horrid</em>. No one deserved sleeping in its close proximity. </p><p>"Oh yeah! You can sleep in mine too!" Percy as always, exclaimed without thinking.</p><p>Annabeth and Piper smirked. "Ooh, wanna share beds now, do you?" Piper teased, "I didn't think you'd move so fast Jackson."</p><p>Nico couldn't help but snort at the blush that covered Jason and Percy's faces.</p><p>Classic Percy fuck up.</p><p>"I- no- ..wait...that not what I meant!" Percy stammered with a red face. "I meant- bro help!" </p><p>"Neeks, Hades wouldn't get offended if I sleep here sometimes, right?" Jason asked with an hopeful expression, apparently deciding to ignore Percy's entire existence.</p><p>Nico shrugged, "Hades wouldn't really mind, though Zeus might."</p><p>Zeus was a dick like that.</p><p>The hopeful look in Jason's eyes deflated at that. "Yeah, you're right."</p><p>"Not if there are other demigods as well" Annabeth interjected.</p><p>A grin stretched over her face as her grey eyes light up with mirth. "Prepare yourself morons, coz we're having a sleepover soon!"</p><p>Nico raised his hand.</p><p>"What."</p><p>"Does my permission matter?"</p><p>"No."</p><p>"Okay."</p><p>"We're having a sleepover soon!" Piper exclaimed happily.</p><p>"Alright, fair warning though, my wolf doesn't let me crash before 4 in the morning."</p><p>Piper didn't skip a beat at the mention of his wolf as she waved him off, "Bold of you to assume we're crashing anytime before morning."</p><p>Why is it called a sleepover then?</p><p>After a little more time of avoiding the elephant in the room, Nico's wolf got irritated and barked at him to man the fuck up.</p><p>Nico sighed. "So..uh...how is the rest of camp taking the news?"</p><p>Silence fell in the cabin as the four demigods shifted awkwardly.</p><p>"Well, there are mixed opinions going around. Alot of campers don't know the story so Chiron has called for a counselors meeting in half an hour to clear the air....and Hazel might be mad at you." Jason summed up.</p><p>"What, Why is Hazel mad at me?"</p><p>"When you shadowtravelled away, our first thoughts were that you left camp so we IM-ed Hazel and Reyna about it." Percy explained, "She was worried before Annabeth noticed your door was locked, then she got mad at you for running like that."</p><p>If this had happened a few months ago, Nico surely would've done just that, but these past days had changed him. The idea of leaving camp without confrontation hadn't even crossed his mind once.</p><p>"Does she....know?" Nico asked hesitantly.</p><p>Out of all the people, Hazel was someone he wanted to tell on his own. He didn't want his sister to find out about this from anyone else.</p><p>"No. We just mentioned you had an accident." Nico sighed in relief.</p><p>"How's Will?"</p><p>Thoughts of the blond had been circling in his head since he woke up. He better be fine or Kyle is going to find skeletons on his bed. Literally.</p><p>Nico noticed the four demigods exchanging slay grins and narrowed his eyes.</p><p>"What are you all looking so smug for?"</p><p>"Oh, just how <em>adorable</em> it is how you jumped to your man's defense in a heartbeat today."</p><p>Nico was aware of his ears burning as he glared at the conceited daughter of Athena.</p><p>"He's not my man"</p><p>"<em>Yet." </em>Piper chimes in with a shit eating grin.</p><p>Nico's scowl deepened as he crossed his arms defensively. Did <em>everyone</em> know how smitten Nico was with that dork?</p><p>"I don't know what you're talking about"</p><p>Percy snorted, "Bro your face is <em>literally </em>redder than Clarisse's armour right now." </p><p>"<em>Shut up" </em>He hissed as he tried to will his blush away.</p><p>"You should ask him out." Jason teased.</p><p>Nico stared at the son of Jupiter incredulously. What a <em>horrible </em>idea.</p><p>"No"</p><p>"Yes"</p><p>"<em>No." </em></p><p>"<em>Yes."</em></p><p>"Not. Happening."</p><p>Jason huffed, "Why not?"</p><p>"None of your business!" He exclaimed, "Just tell me how he's doing."</p><p>They both glared at each other for a few seconds before Jason sighed in defeat.</p><p>"He's resting. Chiron treated him because the spear was Celestial Bronze but he should be at the counselor meeting."</p><p>Nico's wolf growled in his chest at the mention of Will's injury.  If only he'd been a little faster the spear would've never reached Will.</p><p>He should've been faster, should've been capable enough to protect his potential mate.</p><p>What good was being a son of Hades and a Lycanthrope if all he could do was freeze up and watch as someone from his pack got hurt?</p><p>"And Kyle?" Nico spit out his name through gritted teeth.</p><p>"The Apollo cabin refused to heal his scratches <em>and </em>Chiron will be deciding a punishment for him during the meeting." Piper said with a small smirk.</p><p>Good. Serves him right.</p><p>Nico's wolf was still growling inside him and he sensed a faint desire to hunt Kyle down shimmer under his skin but he did his best to ignored it.</p><p>It was worrisome how he could feel the agitation rising in his veins at the mention of the son of Nemesis - the desire to absolutely <em>destroy </em>anyone who wished harm on his pack bubbling in his every pore.</p><p>He felt restless, like his skin didn't quite fit him anymore. His eyes hurt and his teeth and gums ached like they were itching to sharpen into canines.</p><p>His gritted his teeth tighter as he tried to reign in his wolf instincts.</p><p>
  <em>Not again. Settle down. </em>
</p><p>Nico was aware of his friends discussing different punishments Kyle deserved as he subtly took deep breaths.</p><p>His wolf growled again.</p><p>
  <em>For Hades sake, what do you want! </em>
</p><p>Out of the blue, memories of his dream flashed past his brain.</p><p>Dream travelling out of Tarturus, his childhood room, the photo frame, his wolf and finally...</p><p>
  <em>"You know what we have to do, don't you?" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Yeah. I know." </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Then we must hurry. There's not much time left now." </em>
</p><p>Realisation and worry settled deep in his bones as he leaned against his headboard.</p><p>Not much time left for what?</p><p>Gods, why didn't he just stay in bed today?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello! :D</p><p>I would like to reinstate that this fic is Nico-centric, as in it focuses on Nico's development and challenges. While Solangelo is a big part of that, so is Nico's friendship with the other campers and his self growth. Hence why I dubbed it necessary to not include Will in this chapter. </p><p>But don't worry :) you'll get your fill of solangelo soon :D </p><p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :3 let me know in the comments and leave kudos if you liked it! </p><p>Stay safe and happy :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warnings for a very brief anxiety attack, though as I said, it's very brief.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They entered the rec room to find it in chaos, as usual.</p><p>Chiara from Tyche was sprouting two cat ears and was screaming some <em>very</em> unflattering things at Lou Ellen in rapid fire italian, like <em>wow</em>, even <em>Nico </em>didn't know half of those swear words.</p><p>Laurel from Nike was staring a Paolo ranting about something in Portuguese with a dreamy expression on her face while Pollux and Butch were trying to see how many pokes it took for Clovis to stir in his sleep.</p><p>Nyssa and Katie were in the middle of a very intense looking thumb fight which Nyssa seemed to be winning, if Katie's swollen thumb was anything to go by. Clarisse was running after the Stolls with a murderous look on her face and Will - who had his right arm bandaged and looked more pale and sickly than that one time he pulled a 48 hour shift to observe some weird research he was working on - was glaring daggers at Kyle who was sitting besides Damien, the real counselor of Nemesis.</p><p>Chiron was having a discussion with Mr D, who was dressed in his usual leopard print shirt and an indifferent scowl, and occasionally shouted things like, "Chiara, language!", "Settle down Clarisse!", "Keep that knife down Travis or I swear to the gods-"</p><p>Inspite of all the hyperactive teenagers in the room, Nico eyes tunnelled on the son of Nemesis who was shooting Will a smug look with <em>no</em> remorse in his eyes whatsoever. A deep feral growl tore from within his throat as a hush feel in the room and all eyes darted towards him and his friends.</p><p>Did he transform again?</p><p>There was a sharp pain behind his eyes for a second as Nico looked down sceptically and to his relief, was still in his human form. In his periphery, he noticed Percy giving him a weird look.</p><p>"What?" Nico asked with an impassive face.</p><p>Percy cleared his throat, "You're eyes flashed red for a moment there."</p><p>"Not possible."</p><p>Only the highest dominance level pack alphas - including Lycaon - had blood red eyes. The demigod medical texts had stated that most of the Lycanthropes had different coloured irises in their wolf form than their human form due to their rank and dominance level.</p><p>However, according to Will, Reyna and Jason, Nico had the same onyx dark eyes in his wolf form as he did in his human form. Back then, he had simply written it off as error with being bite-transformed, so Percy's admittance piqued his interest and definitely increased his braincell's workload.</p><p>"My eyes are dark brown Percy." Nico stated with a straight face inspite of the seed of doubt sowed in his mind.</p><p>"Yeah. Must've been a trick of the light." The son of Poseidon nodded. </p><p>Another growl echoed in the room but this time it wasn't from Nico. Everyone in the room tensed as Clarisse stomped towards him with flared nostrils.</p><p>"Clarisse-"</p><p>"Miss La Rue-"</p><p>"Wait!-"</p><p>Nico heard many people, including Chiron and his friends exclaim with urgency - stuck in a cycle of panicked bewilderment and stupefying uncertainly - as the daughter of war marched towards him with bloody murder in her eyes and dug a finger in his chest. Nico was surprised she didn't punch a hole through his ribcage from the force behind the jab.</p><p>"You should've ripped that coward's arms off when you had the chance" Clarisse hissed with another painful dig of her finger before stomping towards her chair.</p><p>An awkward silence blanketed the room before Mr D sighed into his Diet Coke can.</p><p>"Can you brats get this over with already? Napoleon D Agnello take a seat before I decide you look better asa dolphin."</p><p>"That's not my-" Nico started but cut himself off when he noticed Connor and Travis shaking their heads vigorously.</p><p>
  <em>Great.</em>
</p><p>"No!" Kyle slammed his hands on the table with an enraged look on his face, "How can you ask this <em>savage </em>to sit among us?"</p><p>Clarisse stood up with clenched teeth, "The only savage in this room is <em>you, </em>you unethical piece of sh-"</p><p>"Miss La Rue, that is quite enough!" Chiron commanded. "Everyone please take a seat."</p><p>Nico felt grateful at the prospect of Clarisse defending him, even though it was probably because if there is anything the buff girl hated more than Percy's smug face - it was unethical or disloyal warriors.</p><p>His gaze met Will's soft blue hues and the weight on his heart eased at the tired but assuring smile the son of Apollo gave him.</p><p>Feeling a bit petty, Nico sat <em>right</em> in front of Kyle with a challenge shining in his eyes. A smirk adorned his face as he watched the red head's furious face turn almost the same shade of ugly as his hair with immense pleasure - he was a son of Hades okay? Being petty pretty much ran in his veins.</p><p>"But he attacked me!"</p><p>"Mister Atkinson, may I remind you that you were the one who attacked Mister Solace first."</p><p><em>That</em> shut the son of Nemesis alright.</p><p>Chiron had a habit of talking formally during serious meetings. The campers liked to joke about it being his 'teacher's mode' but everyone knew better than to mess with the old trainer during such meetings.</p><p>"Chiron if I may?" Lou Ellen chimed in and turned to face Nico at the centaur's nod.</p><p>
  <em>Here it goes. </em>
</p><p>"What the hell happened this morningman! Do you have powers like Frank? Coz like, that's fucking <em>badass</em> dude!"</p><p>"Language."</p><p>"Oh sorry, that's fucking astounding mate"</p><p>A few snorts resonated around the table before the Stolls turned to him with identical mischief grins.</p><p>"So can you just shapeshift into animals like Zhang-"</p><p>"-Or can you change into other guys-"</p><p>"-or girls-"</p><p>"-as well?"</p><p>It was kinda creepy how they completed each other's sentences even though they weren't twins.</p><p>"<em>Ow ow ow ow</em>-"</p><p>"Lighter! Lighter! <em>Ouch</em>..the fuck women-" they both yelped as Katie twisted their ears with an irritated look on her face. "Don't get any ideas you two." She warned before letting go of their now red earlobes. Maybe that's why all Hermes kids had pointy ears. </p><p>Everyone in the room - bar the ones who already knew the truth - turned to look at him with interest as if they expected him to turn into a hot chick any moment now.</p><p>Nico fidgeted in his seat as the black hole in his stomach grew in size.</p><p>
  <em>Here goes nothing.</em>
</p><p>"No. I-I- actually- " He tried to get the words out, he really did, but they weighed a ton on his tongue as he swallowed audibly to get past the bile rising in his throat.</p><p><em>Holy Hades, what was I thinking? I can't do this. I just </em>can't.</p><p>All the anticipatory gazes fixed on him prickled his skin like lasers as anxiety squeezing his throat shut. The noises in the room faded as he felt himself slip further and further in the muddy puddle squeezing the breath out of his lung and- <em>I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't- </em></p><p>The raven jerked as he felt a steady grip and a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder.</p><p>Nico looked into Jason's electric blue eyes, showing nothing but support. The blond squeezed his shoulder again - a physical reminder that his friends were here.</p><p>Comforted by the silent support, Nico closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to ground himself as the noises filtered back in to stain his reality.</p><p>Nico thought back to when he hated removing bandages. He used to attempt to peel the sticky edges slowly and wince as it pulled at his sensitive skin painfully. When Bianca had learnt about his personal grudge against them, she had laughed and flicked his forehead playfully.</p><p>"<em>That's not how you remove a bandage dummy." </em></p><p>Back then, Nico had pouted at his big sister in defiance before repeating her sentence in a squeaky high pitch tone. Bianca had merely rolled her eyes before kneeling and ripping the bandage on his knee in one go.</p><p>Nico had yelped and glared at her in betrayal while he clutching his stinging skin before registering the quickly residing pain.</p><p>Now, years later, the dark haired boy looked around the rec room before ripping the bandage off.</p><p>"I'm a lycanthrope."</p><p>The room went silent.</p><p>A beat.</p><p>Two.</p><p>Then chaos broke out as everyone tried to shout something or the other at the same time.</p><p>"What?!"</p><p>"Lycanthrope?!"</p><p>"The fuckkkk-"</p><p>"Since when?!"</p><p>"Cool!"</p><p>"Huh, what? what's happening?"</p><p>(The last one was Clovis, who fell off his chair and woke up.)</p><p>Nico was about ready to make a dash for it at all the questions being thrown at him like stones. For someone who didn't like being in the spotlight, this was a nightmare.</p><p>A loud ear piercing whistle echoed through the room as everyone clutched their ears and glared at Will.</p><p>Nico and Chiron doubled over in pain thanks to their enhanced hearing.</p><p>"Ouch." Nico moaned through his blurred sight and ringing ears.</p><p>"Agreed." Chiron groaned, "Mister Solace, please refrain from doing that around people with sharper hearing."</p><p>Surprise coloured Will's face for a split second before a guilty smile replaced it.</p><p>"Ah, Sorry. Forgot."</p><p>Chiron nodded before directing his gaze back to Nico. "I believe an explaination is in order Mister di Angelo."</p><p>Nico groaned in misery as he began narrating the story from his and Reyna's fight with Lycaon in Portugal to him getting bitten during the last quest and the trio finding him in his wolf form.</p><p>By the end of his explanation everyone had expressions ranging from disbelief to awe.</p><p>Nico fidgeted with the hem of his shirt as he waited for someone to speak up. In times like these, he wished he could still wear his favourite skull ring, but it was silver so he couldn't carry it on his person anymore.</p><p>Jason and Percy had their hands crossed across their chests and were glaring at everyone as if daring them to speak anything negative. Piper, Annabeth and Will had similar calm but observant expression, though thankfully, they didn't look seconds away from jumping someone. </p><p>Having his friends on his side made it easier to keep his head held high. Not for the first time Nico wondered how he survived for so long without these wonderful people by his side.</p><p>"Awesome!" Connor broke the silence with an awed grin.</p><p>Clarisse, probably for the first time, nodded in agreement at Stoll's remark. "You fought his whole pack <em>and </em>managed to kill him without dying. That's impressive."</p><p>Lou Ellen and a few other chimed in agreement and Nico blinked in disbelief.</p><p>"Did you guys hear that right? I'm a <em>lycanthrope</em>." Nico reasserted, you know, just in case they missed that <em>teeny tiny </em>detail.</p><p>"This is so unfair!" Nyssa whined. "Not only are you a son of the big three with cool powers but now you can transform into a fucking wolf as well? Un-fucking-fair!"</p><p>Multiple people nodded in agreement while Chiron grunted a faint <em>language. </em></p><p>Nico couldn't believe it. Everytime he had entertained the thought of telling everyone at camp, he <em>always</em> expected resistance and hate from at least half the campers.</p><p>All the tension in his body drained out of him as he took a relieved breath. He's not losing his home. His not losing his pack. His friends at camp don't hate him.</p><p>Nico felt like curling up and crying from happiness but opted to give a genuine smile as an alternative - he had a reputation to uphold.</p><p>"You guys really don't mind?" He asked, just to be sure.</p><p>Butch snorted. "We are literally children of gods, why would we mind that?"</p><p>"Are you all kidding me right now?!" Kyle exclaimed in disbelief.</p><p>Nico sighed. Okay, maybe there was some resistance and hate after all.</p><p>"He. Attacked. Me. Did you all not see the crazy look in his eyes this morning? You're all delusional if you think he's anything but a monster!"</p><p>Multiple people spoke up in protested as Annabeth and Piper held Percy and Jason back and Nico sighed.</p><p>He thought about his dream from this morning.</p><p><em>"</em> <em>You know what we have to do, don't you?" His wolf huffed softly. </em></p><p>
  <em>"Yeah. I know." Nico whispered. </em>
</p><p>He did.</p><p>"Guys stop!" He asserted as he stood up. "I'm afraid Kyle's right."</p><p>"No!" Will exclaimed as he stood up as well, Percy and Jason not far behind. "We've discussed this Nico. You're <em>not</em> a monster."</p><p>Nico held up his hand.</p><p>"Hear me out Will." The blond didn't look happy but he took a seat anyway.</p><p>"While I don't think of myself as a monster, it does not excuse the fact that I lost control this morning. I have no doubts I would've caused some serious damage if Piper hadn't stopped me."</p><p>Kyle looked especially smug by the end of his confession and Nico's hands twitched to punch his lights out for it.</p><p>He noticed a few people begin to say something but continued before they got a chance to voice their opinions.</p><p>"Its been only two weeks since the transformation and today I realised I can't control my wolf as much as I thought." He summed up.</p><p>Chiron cleared his throat. "And what do you plan on doing about it?"</p><p>Nico turned to face the old centaur, carefully avoiding everyone's eyes.</p><p>"I must leave camp immediately-"</p><p>"No! Absolutely <em>not</em>." Will exclaimed with a panicked expression on his face, "You aren't leaving. Not again. You <em>promised </em>you'll stay Nico."</p><p>Trust that idiot to jump to the wrong conclusion without listening to the whole thing.</p><p>The medic's eyes got a touch more desperate as he looked for some kind of confirmation in his dark eyes. "Say it. Tell me you airnt leaving. This is stupid! We'll figure something else out."</p><p>Nico's heart soared in his chest at how distressed Will looked at the idea of him leaving camp forever.</p><p><em>Dear gods. </em>He really <em>did</em> love this person<em>. </em>And maybe, just <em>maybe, </em>the blond might be more than infatuated with him as well.</p><p>He let an assuring smile tug at his lips as he held up his hand again. "Let me finish sunshine."</p><p>Will clenched his jaw and stayed silent but didn't retake his seat. You know, <em>just in case</em> he had to physically wrestle and tie Nico to his chair to prevent him from leaving.</p><p>Nico's smile grew at that. (And No. He's <em>not</em> thinking about Will tying him to a chair. How absurd. Of course not.)</p><p>"I want to ask Chiron permission to leave camp- <em>no, do not interrupt me Jason -</em>to train with Goddess Lupa till I can guarantee what happened this morning won't happen again."</p><p>Nico couldn't help but grin as realisation covered Will's features and the storm in his eyes cleared to show the heart stopping ocean blues again.</p><p>"Oh my gods, you <em>asshole</em>! You did that on purpose didn't you!" Will accused as he walked the short distance between them and pulled him in a tight hug.</p><p>Nico saw the campers around the table exchanging looks but ignored it in favour of burying his face in Will's warm chest and taking in his intoxicating smell of spices, sunflowers and a bit of nectar.</p><p>Will tightened his arms around him and winced as pain flared from his injured arm. Nico was reminded of how sickly and weak the blond looked as he broke the embrace and scanned his person with worried eyes.</p><p>"You okay?"</p><p>Will nodded with a grimace, "I'll be fine."</p><p>"Yes yes, its all very nice" Mr D rolled his eyes as they reclaimed their seats, "Are we <em>finally</em> done here now?"</p><p>"Not quite Mr D, we still have to decide Kyle's punishment" Chiron said with a smile. "Nico, you may leave for camp Jupiter tomorrow evening."</p><p>
  <em>"Then we must hurry. There's not much time left now." </em>
</p><p>"No."</p><p>Chiron raised an eyebrow, "No?"</p><p>Nico shook his head. "No. I leave tonight. As soon as possible."</p><p>His solemnity must've shown on his face because Chiron nodded. "If you think it's for the best, so be it."</p><p>"I'll come with you." Jason chimed in, "I have to leave for camp Jupiter soon anyway."</p><p>Mr D sighed into his Diet Coke again. "The Nemesis brat will help the Ares and the Apollo brats in combat and Archery training and clean the toilets alone for a week. Done! Can we play pinochle now?"</p><p>Kyle's face paled noticeably as Clarisse cracked her knuckles with a wicked glint in her eyes which promised retribution and suffering while Will leveled the redhead with a slay smirk paired with an almost predatory look in his eyes. Kayla was <em>not</em> known for her forgiving nature, <em>specially </em>when it came to matters involving her siblings. (<em>Do </em>not<em> think about that look— don't do it di Angelo. Just don't) </em></p><p>Nico would've felt sympathy for the son of Nemesis if he couldn't still smell the faint metallic tang of blood from where the red had seeped into the bandages covering Will's bicep. With his wolf growling in his chest Nico leaned towards Connor and whispered, "Make sure the toilets are absolutely <em>trashed </em>for a week and I'll help with any one prank of your choice when I return."</p><p>Connor shot him a sly grin with twinkling eyes, "Deal."</p><p>The centaur rubbed his beard, "Does anyone disagree with the decisions made in this meeting?"</p><p>No one but Kyle raised their hand. Even Damien, the counselor of Nemesis, ignored Kyle's displeased face as Chiron concluded the meeting.</p><p>"Very well then. You all are expected to pass the information and decisions made in this meeting to your fellow cabinmates. Get back to your normal schedule. Dismissed."</p><p> </p><p></p><div>
  <p>____</p>
</div><p> </p><p>Lunch after that was one of the most awkward ordeals of his life.</p><p>By now, the news about the son of Hades being a Lycanthrope had spread throughout camp and he was overly aware of all the stares and whispers flowing among the campers. The whispers weren't particularly harsh, but he didn't fancy being the center of camp gossips.</p><p>He knew everyone at camp weren't going to digest the information as easily as the counselors had, specially with all the new campers being recruited, but did they really have to be so obvious about it?</p><p>Jason and Percy tried to distract him with conversations and their obnoxiously disgusting bromance but it was hard to not feel self-conscious when he could feel eyes digging into his back like daggers.</p><p>The fact that Kayla had led the Apollo cabin to the dining pavilion and Will was nowhere in sight didn't help his jittery nerves. What if something bad happened with the wound? Celestial bronze wounds were downright nasty and required a lot of self strength and willpower to heal.</p><p>He wanted to catch Will right after the meeting but Chiron had ushered the healer away before he got a chance.</p><p>After another few minutes of keeping his indifferent mask intact and pretending his sharp hearing couldn't pick up on the doubtful whispers, Nico got up.</p><p>"I'm done guys, I'll see you later." he assured Jason and Percy before throwing his leftover food in the fire and making his way towards the infirmary.</p><p>"Hey Nico!"</p><p>He turned at the call to see Mitchell jogging towards him from the dining pavilion.</p><p>The dark haired boy felt nerves rise in his stomach. Surely Mitchell had heard the truth by now, what if he tells Nico it's too weird to be his friend now?</p><p>No. Nico shock the thought away.</p><p>Mitchell had called him his friend. And friends give each other the benefit of the doubt.</p><p>"Hey, Piper told us what happened." The  son of Aphrodite started with worried eyes. "How are you doing?"</p><p>The flickering flame of doubt in his chest extinguished. Maybe trusting others wasn't that bad after all.</p><p>"Okay I guess. The campers are acting weird though."</p><p>Mitchell gave him a small smile. "Don't worry, they just need some time to get past their jealousy. It'll be better when you return."</p><p>Nico scoffed. "Jealousy? More like repulsion." He knew it wasn't <em>repulsion </em>but he's was mentally exhausted and his vocabulary had spiralled down to only a few choice words, all of them cynical. What can he say, bad habits die hard.</p><p>Mitchell gave him such an incredulous look that Nico felt stupid for vocalising his thoughts.</p><p>"Holy Zeus, you really <em>do</em> jump to the worst case scenario, don't you?" The son of Aphrodite said, irked  "You can shift into a freakin' wolf Nico! Do you realise how cool that is?"</p><p>Nico allowed himself a small smile. The very thought of campers being envious of him for being a lycanthrope seemed absurd to him, but then, shape shifting was a pretty rare power.</p><p>"Yeah, right until the part where you're blinded by bloodlust and want to rip someone's insides out"</p><p>Mitchell waved his hand casually as if Nico wasn't seconds away from mutilating one of the campers just mere <em>hours</em> ago.</p><p>"Details."</p><p>Nico snickered. He liked how easy it was to talk to Mitchell without feeling like he was being judged or rebuffed.</p><p>"Thanks for being so cool about this."</p><p>"What can I say, I'm a god sent." Mitchell said as he made a show of flicking his imaginary long hair and then promptly invited himself to observe Nico's shoulder length ones.</p><p>It took <em>a</em> <em>lot </em>of conscious strength and effort not to bite off the hazel eyed boy's hand when he twirled one of Nico's long dark locks around his fingers with a contemplating expression.</p><p>"You desperately need a haircut."</p><p>Oh hell no.</p><p>Nico snatched his strands out of the son of Aphrodite's hands and tucked them behind his ear, away from the other boy's reach.</p><p>"No I don't."</p><p>"I'm the hair expert here, and yes you <em>definitely</em> do."</p><p>"Doesn't matter, you're not touching my hair"</p><p>"But you have split ends! I will absolutely <em>not</em> allow a friend of mine to roam around with split ends."</p><p>Mitchell tried to drag him towards the Aphrodite cabin but Nico dug his feet into the ground.</p><p>"No, it doesn't matter Mitchell! I leave tonight anyway"</p><p>"Exactly! Imagine how bad the damage would be by then!" The son of Aphrodite replied in a horrified tone.</p><p>"I said let go off me." Nico growled as he glared at the hazel eyed boy. Immediately, Mitchell flinched <em>hard</em> and dropped his arm.</p><p>"I- sorry." Mitchell said as he took a few steps back and avoided eye contact.</p><p>Spending time with Will had almost made him forget how effective his glares were. Although he was happy he hasn't lost all his special charms, scaring his friend made guilt pool in his stomach.</p><p>He looked at the fidgeting boy and sighed for the hundredth time today, "Fine." It might work in his favour during his talk with Reyna and Hazel anyway. They were <em>always</em> on his case about his long unkempt hair.</p><p>Mitchell looked up at him with bright eyes, "Really?"</p><p>Nico groaned as he cursed his existence. He can't <em>believe</em> that <em>he</em>, Nico dont-touch-me di Angelo, was giving someone consent to mess with his hair. Maybe masterbation caused insanity after all.</p><p>"Yeah, but no unnecessary touching and don't cut my hair too short."</p><p>Mitchell didn't seem to have heard him as he kept mumbling to himself about hair wash, spa and a whole lot of other things which <em>did not</em> sound fun.</p><p>"<em>No </em>unnecessary touching Mitchell." He reasserted.</p><p>Mitchell pouted, "Right. Okay."</p><p>He walked off towards the pink cabin, clearly expecting Nico to follow.</p><p>It was safe to say he was already regretting his decision to give in.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello! </p><p>So I have a small announcement: My updates will be a little slower here on out for a number of reasons. First, and the most prominent one being that I accepted an internship which, though online, is a real pain in my ass and very time consuming, so I can't write as fast as I have been till now. </p><p>I've also been experiencing a writers block and am a little insecure about my work - nothing I write seems good enough. I started this fiction as a way to improve my writing and though I have improved since the first chapter, it still lacks a certain flow and proficiency I wish to acquire. You all have been so forthcoming and lovely with the response, I am obligated to give back the best I can manage :D</p><p>I will try updating atleast once a week but please be patient with me, I want to do this fic justice :) </p><p>That's all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter has a ton of solangelo I promise ;) Stay safe and stay happy :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Edit: Lol, so I edited Kyle's punishment in the last chapter because it wasn't anywhere near gruesome enough to what he deserves. If you thought the same, I hope you find the new punishment I edited a lot more satisfying! :D </p>
<p>Also, just a quick recall for this chapter: Blood from the right side of a Gorgon's body can heal any injury, while blood from the left side causes a painful death.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nico tried his best not to leave a trail of dead grass behind as he stomped towards the infirmary. It had been almost three hours—three <em>fucking </em>hours—since lunch and Will <em>still </em>wasn't anywhere in sight.</p>
<p>Nico had (begrudgingly) spent nearly half an hour packing a small duffle bag under Annabeth's scrutinizing gaze before she had allowed him to hunt for the blond. (And no. He was <em>definitely</em> not sulking—or god forbid, <em>pouting—</em>as he expectantly glanced at his door every few minutes.... Annabeth was very obviously, a <em>lying bitch.) </em></p>
<p>Its not like he <em>expected</em> Will to seek him out or anything (<em>pft</em>, of course not), but the blond's agitated reaction during the meeting had unfortunately forced him to reconsider his previous beliefs of Will not feeling the same about him,  which had in turn made him hopeful, which was—stupid<em>, incredibly so, </em>and yet, so painfully tempting.</p>
<p>At first, Will's absence had worried him, making different scenarios bounce around his head—all of them cynical. Then that worry had morphed into irritation with every place he'd failed to find those startling blues which burnt as bright as flames.</p>
<p>The Apollo cabin, the archery range, the arena, dining pavilion, classes...he checked them all and came up blank. He had left the infirmary for last because he knew Will hated Monday afternoon shifts with a passion—<em>you deal with whiny injured demigods yapping about how the other team cheated in the game—</em>but with all the other options exhausted and his exasperation reaching new limits, the son of Hades made his way towards the treatment ward.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>________</p>
</div><p> </p>
<p>Nico entered the infirmary to find it relatively empty. Three of the cots were occupied by dozing campers while a pink haired boy Nico vaguely recognised as a son of Aphrodite (Jared?) was busy plucking Will's half brother Castor's brows at the stationed desk.</p>
<p>Nico was at least 78.56 percent sure those tweezers weren't meant for shaping eyebrows.</p>
<p>"Do you know where's Will?" He asked as he got closer to the duo.</p>
<p>What's-his-name jumped at the unexpected voice and turned with what was probably supposed to be a defensive stance with a constipated expression—or maybe he was trying to go for an intimidating look; Nico honestly couldn't tell with the tweezers and that frankly <em>ridiculous</em> shade of spanking pink.</p>
<p>"<em>Jesus—</em>how are you so quiet!?" Maybe-Jared bemoaned as he broke position—unnerved and sloppy at best; a glaringly obvious sign he's a new camper—as Castor snorted in amusement.</p>
<p>"Lucas, you know you're a <em>Greek</em> demigod, right?" Lucas. Right. Oh well, he was close.</p>
<p>"Yeah well, Aphrodite never told pops she was a freaking <em>goddess</em>, so I was raised Christian like my dad."</p>
<p>Nico didn't bother replying because it's not like the confession was all that surprisingly. The gods rarely told their partners their real identities so more often than not the campers were raised following different religions. Some still liked to believed in them, thanks to the ungodly behaviour exhibited by most of the gods in the face of arrogance, greed, lust and warfare.</p>
<p>Nico himself was raised Catholic on his nonno's insistence, though he doesn't remember much of the religion's teachings.</p>
<p>His features twisted into a frown at the two now-chuckling demigods. Did he say that out loud? That's weird, he never does that...</p>
<p>"You're really telling me—" Castor snickered, "—that the <em>gay</em> son of the lord of the Underworld—which is as close as we get to the devil, was raised <em>Catholic</em>?"</p>
<p>Nico flinched at the g-word and instantly berated himself for it. He's not surprised that the camp has eventually arrived at that conclusion, specially after he effectively stopped glaring anyone who hinted at it to death, but he's <em>never</em> referred to himself with such a direct term—a label with meaning set in stone and no wriggling space. Being tied to that term seemed both, blissfully grounding and nerve wreckingly <em>terrifying.</em></p>
<p>Lucas and Castor seemed to have misinterpreted his flinch because they exchanged a panicked look before going off on a tangent rambling about how they weren't comparing his father to the devil.</p>
<p>Any other day, he <em>most definitely</em> would've been amused but as it is, Nico barely managed to suppress an irritated sneer. He's had more than <em>enough</em> social interaction for a day and if he doesn't find Will in oh- the next fifteen minutes, he's going to stab someone.</p>
<p>"Yeah, whatever." Nico scowled, thoroughly <em>done </em>with today. "Do you know where's Solace or not?"</p>
<p>The two spluttering demigods relaxed as Castor pointed towards Will's office wordlessly.</p>
<p><em>Fucking Finally</em>.</p>
<p>He nodded a thanks before making his way towards the indicated hallway. The array of houseplants placed on the newly painted windowsill a few paces away from the aforementioned office made him bite his lips in contemplation.</p>
<p>Nico paused besides the window and looked at his virtual features overlapped by split shadows of the modest forest in the reflecting glass.</p>
<p>Dark onyx eyes stared back into his own and for a second Nico didn't recognise himself because of the jaw and cheekbones now on clear display in courtesy to his shorter hair, which, unlike before, now curled around his ears.</p>
<p>Nico shook off the lose of not being able to hide behind his hair anymore and took a deep breath while re-establishing eye contact.</p>
<p>"Gay." He whispered as he tasted the word on his tongue for the first time. Soft – so it slid off his tongue gracefully, and yet, crude – so it won't evaporate to nothing in the air. "I'm gay." He continued feeling strangely breathless, "l like boys. And that's okay."</p>
<p>Nico's heart beat in his throat for a few small infinities before he exhaled the shakey breath he didn't remember holding.</p>
<p>His reflection smiled a small but real smile as he turned and walked upto Will's office. He didn't feel any major changes in himself after his admittance, but his heart felt lighter as he entered the room.</p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>_______</p>
</div><p> </p>
<p>Nico had been in Will's office a handful of times—mostly to drag the blond away from medical textbooks thicker than his arm—but never has he seen it in such a <em>mess</em>.</p>
<p>Bottles and test tubes of god knows what were littered on the table and the floor was all but hidden under the piles of open books, notes and scrolls littered around. There was a thick smell of mixtures and herbs in the air which caught Nico off-guard for a split second before he regained his composure.</p>
<p>In the middle of the sea of bottles and papers was Will bent over a microscope, dressed in (<em>oh sweet death—</em> ) a white lab coat, latex gloves and safety glasses. Nico is absolutely <em>positive</em> his mouth has never been so dry. His wolf twisted in his chest restlessly and he wondered if this is what Jackson meant by him 'thirsting' after Will— no, <em>focus dumbass. </em></p>
<p>"Did you get possessed by a crazy scientist?" Nico called out, voice flat with years of practiced indifference.</p>
<p>The blond in question looked up with bright blue eyes which widened in surprise as they took in the the raven's appearance. "Did you get a haircut?"</p>
<p>Nico ran a hand through his short hair self consciously as Will gaped at him. "Yeah, Mitchell insisted I <em>desperately</em> needed one."</p>
<p>Will's surprise dimmed as his features settled into a more collected facade. <em>Facade</em>, because despite the healer's calm act, Nico's sharp hearing picked up the soft <em>he's fucking trying to kill me</em> the blond mumbled to himself as he removed his safety gear, and if Nico's heart skipped a beat at the hushed words, then well—its not like <em>Will</em> had super sharp werewolf hearing.</p>
<p>"Well, he clearly knows what he's doing, that's for sure." Will praised as he immersed his used gloves in a bowl of a colourless solution—it was hard to pinpoint what with all the overpowering smells in the air—and made his way towards the raven.</p>
<p>"And what are <em>you</em> doing here?" Nico asked as he randomly picked up a mixture of sparkly disposition from the table. He sloshed the liquid slightly and almost dropped it when the surface came ablaze with purple flames.</p>
<p>"Fuck—shit—" Curses flew from his mouth in symphony as he hurriedly set the bottle back on the table and turned to glare at the blond currently chuckling at his misfortune. Nico wants a refund on his whole fucking <em>life</em>.</p>
<p>"Bastard. You could've warned me." He snarled as he pushed the taller boy lightly and immediately tensed at the hissed breath that escaped Will's teeth as he gripped at his injured arm. Only now did Nico notice how tired Will looked. It had barely been three hours since they last saw each other at the counselor meeting, and yet—<em>yet</em> Will looked like he's pulled two all nighters since then.</p>
<p>"You look like shit."</p>
<p>Will snorted through his grimace as he took a small sip of what looked like Nectar, "Airn't you a charmer."</p>
<p>"Shut up Solace" Nico's brows furrowed as he dismissed Will's attempt at lightening the mood, "I thought Chiron healed you."</p>
<p>The blond blew out air as he sat on the lone chair shoved in the corner of his office. "He did as much as he could've."</p>
<p>"What the fuck is <em>that</em> supposed to mean?" Nico asked with a stony face as he tried to suppress the anxiety rising within him.</p>
<p>"Well you see—deep wounds from Celestial Bronze airnt as easy to heal as shallow cuts or wounds from other metals. Medicines and healers can help with the pain but in order to truly heal from it, the demigod must prove themselves worthy of the blood of the immortals which runs in their veins."</p>
<p>Nico blinked. "What."</p>
<p>The blond had the audacity to roll his eyes in exasperation, "You know how Jason got stabbed during the seven's quest?" Nico nodded; it had happened after he left with the Athena Parthenos, but the son of Jupiter had mentioned it being a major pain in the ass. Nico had merely dismissed it as Jason being a overgrown baby because <em>It was a stab wound Grace, what else did you expect? Ballet?</em></p>
<p>"His wound healed only when he helped Percy fight the giant Polybotes underwater. Similarly, for me to heal,<em> I </em>have to prove I'm worthy of it."</p>
<p>Nico's jaw clenched and the temperature dropped a few degree Celsius. Why can't things be easy for <em>once</em>?</p>
<p>"Is that what you're doing here?" The question came out in a low voice as the son of Hades tried to reign in his anger and frustration.</p>
<p>Will nodded, not even pretending to be fazed by the shadows in the room getting thicker. "I have this theory—I mean, I think I can synthesis a cure-all almost as strong as Gorgon's blood."</p>
<p>The anger drained out of him like air from a puncher as astonishment took its place. Did he hear that right? A cure-all <em>almost as strong as Gorgon's blood, </em>and that to <em>synthesised</em> was unheard of. Anything which came close to it was Asclepius's physicians cure, which didn't fucking <em>count</em> because that was made by a full blooded god.</p>
<p>"Stop staring at me like that" Will muttered bashfully.</p>
<p>Nico was most definitely staring because Will's cheeks were starting to look flushed but <em>fuck </em>he couldn't help it.</p>
<p>"Sorry— I'm just— can you really do that?"</p>
<p>He knew Will was smart—the best combat medic in years with a knack for research. Ever since the war, the blond had made several improved versions of the medical chewing gum which had saved Nico's skin during the war, along with many healing salves and bandages interweaved with self healing magic(with Lou Ellen's help). But claiming to make a cure-all <em>that</em> strong, that too in the wake of a possibly life threatening injury— Nico's chest felt tight with a flattery warmth he recognised as <em>pride. </em></p>
<p>"Hopefully." By now, Will's face was completely red as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Nico couldn't help but try to burn the sight of flushed golden skin in his memories.</p>
<p>"It's an incredibly delicate process," Will cleared his throat, the blush on his face not relenting under Nico's transfixed gaze, "Honestly, there are more chances of things going wrong than right—what with me having to depend on the natural ambiance of tonight's full moon and the stars alignment and everything—but I have to try."</p>
<p>Nico snapped out of his transfixed state as his wolf steered in his chest at the mention of the full moon, then a faint blush of his own covered his checks because he can't <em>believe </em>he'd been staring at Will so shamelessly—</p>
<p>What the hell was happening to him today? He never had this much problem keeping his emotions in check, but every sense in his body has been going haywire since he woke up and his wolf has been restless with anticipation laced in it's every movement since the shift during the game.</p>
<p>"What if it doesn't work?" Nico forced the red accumulating in his cheeks to calm down but one look in Will's blazing blue eyes put him back at square one.</p>
<p>Will's flustered gaze brittled at the question as he averted his eyes and Nico's hands twitched with the strong desire to grip his chin and re-establish that eye contact which felt more intimate than the kiss on the cheek they had exchanged.</p>
<p>"Well—" Will started and Nico grimaced at the hesitance underlying his tone. "Best case scenario, it fails and I can try again....worst case...."</p>
<p>"Spit it out Will."</p>
<p>Will sighed but still didn't meet his eyes, "Worst case I make a <em>poison </em>as strong as Gorgon's blood who's fumes alone will kill me in under thirty seconds."</p>
<p>Nico's world seemed to have stopped entirely as those words replayed in his mind on repeat.</p>
<p><em>Worst case I make a </em>poison<em> as strong as Gorgon's blood who's fumes alone will kill me in under thirty seconds. </em></p>
<p>Fear—pure unadulterated fear paralyzed his muscles—the same kind he felt when he had landed in Tarturus.</p>
<p><em>Worst case I make a </em>poison<em> as strong as Gorgon's blood who's fumes alone will kill me in under thirty seconds.</em></p>
<p>He can't lose Will. He <em>can't</em>. He won't be able to survive it. He was just— They were just— and now this— no. Even the <em>thought </em>of those blue eyes, full of warmth and kindness when Nico's past clawed at his restraint and choked him and of mirth and mischief when he <em>desperately </em>needed a friend and a sense of normalcy—the sky had <em>nothing</em> on those eyes—even the <em>thought </em>of those ocean blue eyes being <em>anything </em>but lively threatened to tip the very scales of his existence.</p>
<p><em>Worst case I make a </em>poison<em> as strong as Gorgon's blood who's fumes alone will kill me in under thirty seconds.</em></p>
<p>"You're not making it." The words were out of his mouth before his spiralling thoughts could get past the shear <em>panic </em> and <em>pain </em>assaulting him mentally. Not that he would take them back even after they did<em>. </em></p>
<p>Will's jaw clenched as his eyes snapped back to his ablaze with defiant challenge. "Yes I am."</p>
<p>"No you're <em>not </em>Will."</p>
<p>Will's eyes got colder as he crossed his arms defensively, "That's not your decision to make."</p>
<p>"Why are you being so <em>childish</em>" Nico growled, "You want to prove yourself? I'll rip Kyle's <em>arms off. </em>Prove yourself by patching him up."</p>
<p>Nico could practically <em>see </em>the anger rising in Will and it did <em>nothing</em> but feed his own<em>.</em> At that moment Nico knew this could get ugly, because both of them were too stubborn to back down.</p>
<p>"You're doing no such thing! Its my decision and I'm doing it!"</p>
<p>"Why are you so set on risking it! There are other ways to prove yourself!"</p>
<p>"Why can't you just fucking <em>trust</em> me to not fuck up?!"</p>
<p>Both of them were yelling at this point and Will had abandoned his chair in favour to stand at his full height which further grated on Nico's already frying nerves.</p>
<p>"You could die you idiot!"</p>
<p>"We're demigods! I could die tomorrow in a battle for all we know!"</p>
<p>"So you want to speed up the process?!"</p>
<p>"Why are you so sure I'm going to fail!"</p>
<p>"Why do <em>you</em> think you need to sacrifice yourself for a bloody cure!"</p>
<p>"I'm not sacrificing anything! This is my <em>job</em>!<em>" </em></p>
<p>"Putting your life at risk is not your job Will!"</p>
<p>"Why do you <em>care</em>?!"</p>
<p>"Because I care about <em>you</em>!"</p>
<p>"Why?! I didn't ask you too!"</p>
<p>Rage so fierce it burnt like lava flowed in the raven's veins at the question. <em>Why</em>? After all this fucking time, Will has the <em>audacity</em> to stand there, look him in the eye and ask <em>why</em> he bloody cares?</p>
<p>With a growl Nico pushed the blond with enough force that he stumbled and fell back in his chair—the momentum threatening to almost topple it over.</p>
<p>"Why?! Because I fucking <em>like </em>you you fucking <em>moron</em>!"</p>
<p>Whatever witty reply Will had on the tip of his tongue remained unsaid as he stared at Nico with wide eyes. Each second which was lost to silence seemed to weigh on Nico's breath as incredulous blue stayed locked with black.</p>
<p>He couldn't imagine the confession being that much of a surprise. Even when none of them ever put it into words, even when they didn't know how deep the other felt or how invested they were in this—whatever <em>this </em>is—it was no secret they both fancied the other <em>at least </em>a little. And that was why the extended silence seemed to choke him so much.</p>
<p><em>Maybe I should say something, </em>Nico thought as the silence bordered on deafening. Just as he opened his mouth to say the first syllable Will let out a dry laugh—miles away from his usual bright and loud one. Even brief, the sound felt like needles on Nico's eardrums and he instantly hated it—it didn't suit Will, didn't suit him <em>at all</em>.</p>
<p>"You say you like me, but you don't even trust my abilities." Will tried to hide it, but the hurt in those words rang as loud as a gunshot to Nico—and gunshot, it felt like.</p>
<p>"Will— that's not—"</p>
<p>"Isn't it?"</p>
<p>This time when Will averted his gaze Nico gave in to his previous desire as and gripped his chin; turning his face so he could stare into those blue depths. The raw insecurities brimming in those eyes felt like a white hot knife embedded in his heart.</p>
<p>"I have full faith in your abilities Will." His voice was soft, but his words were strong and clear, because it's the truth. There was no healer in this world Nico trusted more than Will, not even Chiron. "I just don't understand why you're so set on risking your life for this."</p>
<p>Will's lips quivered and when he answers his voice sounded strained, "You won't understand."</p>
<p>Nico's heart broke seeing Will like this. He's never seen the blond like this—so insecure and unsure, as if a little more pressure could break him inspite of how strong Nico <em>knew </em>he was. And—its true, he doesn't understand this. Doesn't understand where all these insecurities are coming from when every fucking part of this human—be it bad or good—is perfect.</p>
<p>Nico lifted his chin from where Will had dropped it to his chest. "Help me understand then, make me understand."</p>
<p>After a few minutes of fighting battles of wills through their eyes, Will sighed in defeat. "I'm a son of Apollo. And unlike my other siblings <em>I </em>am <em>just </em>a healer. Do you know how rare it is for children of Apollo to have no talent whatsoever in music or Archery?"</p>
<p>A squeeze on the shoulder was the only answer Nico gave. He knew Will was the only one in his cabin who couldn't use a bow or carry a tune to save his life. Even Kevin, the youngest Apollo camper was better at it than the blond.</p>
<p>Will took in a shakey breath and Nico noticed his fingers tighten on the edge of the chair, "I don't <em>deserve</em> being the counselor, that job is for someone worthy of being a role model for their cabinmates— someone the younger siblings could look up to. Someone—someone like Kayle or...or Austin. Not me."</p>
<p>"That's <em>not</em> true." Nico rebuked in a sharp tone. "That's as far from the truth as one can get Will. You're an amazing counselor because you <em>care</em> about each of your siblings. Does Kayla know what Riley is allergic to? Does Austin know about Lexi's fear of blood? Do either of them stay up late to read Kevin bedtime stories because he has trouble sleeping without them? No! Only you. Because you care about each and every one of them. <em>That's</em> what makes you a good counselor, not you area of expertise."</p>
<p>Will didn't seem to have heard him at all because he shook his head and swallowed audibly a few times. Nico could see his eyes getting shiny with moisture.</p>
<p>"Besides, you're not <em>just</em> a healer. You're the strongest healer camp has seen in centuries! And the best combat medic—"</p>
<p>"Then why do I still lose patients!" Will exclaimed as the salty smell of tears hit Nico full force. "If I'm the most gifted healer—if I wasn't given any other talent to...to be an expert in this field, then why—<em>why</em> do I let so many people down Nico." Will cried and Nico felt like someone was digging claws deeper and deeper in his chest with every break in his voice, every tear and every hiccuped breath.</p>
<p>"You can't save everyone Will." Nico muttered with desperate hopelessness.  He's never seen the healer break like this before. The only time he's seen him shed tears was the night Nico had carried out the burial rites after the war.</p>
<p>Will always put on a happy front in the company of others, always had a smile to sooth other's pain no matter the storm corroding his own insides. Only now did Nico see the cracks hidden beneath the impenetrable happy masks Will wore on a daily basis, and for some twisted reason—that just made Will more beautiful in his eyes, more <em>real. </em></p>
<p>"Then why was I given such exceptional healing abilities? What use are they if I can't save my patients?"</p>
<p>"But you <em>do </em>save your patients Will. The fates gave you exceptional healing because there were two wars coming and we needed you to help make it."</p>
<p>Will looked up at that and Nico hated seeing the red keeping the blue irises prisoner—it had no place in those dazzling eyes, neither did those ugly streams cleaving their way down those freckled cheeks.</p>
<p>"Twenty-one" Will whispered, "I lost twenty one campers in the two wars Nico. Fifteen in the Titan war and six during the war with Gaia."</p>
<p>Well shit.</p>
<p>"And how many did you save?" Will looked away and didn't answer but Nico saw the tears stop falling from his waterlines.</p>
<p>"That's not the point." Will muttered, "The point is that making this elixir will reduce the chances of a camper dying by almost 97%....and that is a chance I'm willing to take."</p>
<p>Nico opened his mouth to say something—anything, but Will beat him to it.</p>
<p>"I have to do this Nico. I <em>need </em>to. Not only to prove a point to the gods....but to myself as well. I-I don't think I can continue being a counselor if I don't do this....and if on the off chance I fuck up bad enough to end up dead—then perhaps, I don't deserve these powers anyway."</p>
<p>Nico saw the steel determination flooding Will's eyes and knew he had lost the argument; though strangely enough Nico didn't seem to mind, neither did he feel the nerve-wracking fear and panic which had overwhelmed his common sense before. He felt....calm, reassured. He knew Will could do this, because if there was anyone stubborn and smart enough to do so, it was the blond.</p>
<p>"Okay." He whispered.</p>
<p>"Okay?" Will echoed with slightly wide eyes.</p>
<p>Nico smiled and rested his forehead lightly against the blond's. He didn't knew what he was doing, or where he was getting the confidence to do so but the contact seemed so....<em> natural.</em></p>
<p>"Yeah, okay. I trust you Will."</p>
<p>The son of Apollo didn't reply, but he didn't have to. The soft smile stretching across his tear-stained cheeks was good enough.</p>
<p>Nico was well aware of Will's gaze and the faint exhales he could feel across his face as he hesitantly rested a hand on his jaw and thumbed the stubborn leftover tears away.</p>
<p>"So...." Will started in a raspy voice which sent tingles down his spine, "You like me huh?"</p>
<p>Blood rushed to his face as he gasped a strangled <em>jerk!</em> and attempted to creat some distance between them.</p>
<p>However, Will had other plans because he gripped his wrist and pulled him with such force that Nico ended up straddling the blond. And <em>Oh my gods—</em> Nico is honestly surprised he hasn't fainted from all the blood rushing to his face because he's in <em>Will's fucking lap</em> and Will is still wearing that god forsaken doctor's coat and ohmygodhishandsarearoundmywaist—</p>
<p>"You know.."  Will leaned in and whispered <em>right next to his ears </em>"...I kinda like you too." And Nico's life is absolutely <em>destroyed </em>by those sultry lips brushing against the shell of his ear.</p>
<p>"Yeah?" Nico breathed and his grip on Will's shoulders tightened as Will hummed ideally and <em>dragged</em> his lips along his jaw—light as a feather but firm enough to feel the plush and soft texture—and never before has Nico realized just <em>how </em>sensitive his skin is.</p>
<p>"Hmm..." Nico felt the vibration against his cheek via Will's lips and a shuddered made his spine arch <em>just a little.</em> "I really really like you Nico...gods you drive me crazy"</p>
<p>"<em>Will" </em>Nico hadn't meant for the call to sound like a whiny moan but it <em>did </em>and he swallowed as he felt Will's arms pull him that much more closer by his waist.</p>
<p>
  <em>This is a fucking prank. </em>
</p>
<p>Slowly, Nico pulled away just enough to stare into Will's eyes and his breath got stuck in his throat. All he was aware was <em>Will Will Will— </em>Will's body heat so close to his own, his thighs under Nico's own, the soft exhales on his lips, the tingling skin of his jaw and cheek where those lips had been just mere minutes ago and above all—those all consuming sapphire eyes looking at him with that expression Nico had never quite been able to place—an expression he now realized was.....want.</p>
<p>Oh.</p>
<p>Will's eyes darted between his eyes and lips - the question and intent shining clear in them, and Nico resists the urge to bite his lip; instead opting to meet that sharp gaze, because he really can't do anything else. He doesn’t say anything, likely couldn’t even if he tried, and the air between them felt like syrup sliding down into his lungs as he leaned in to close the distance between them.</p>
<p>The first brush of their lips was soft and tentative, the second—firm and <em>electric. </em>By the fourth time their lips caressed each other's, Will's hand was tangled in raven hair and Nico's lungs felt twice their size and yet completely useless.</p>
<p>Apparently, Will was in the same boat because on the next exhale the blond pulled Nico closer and stole the breath <em>right</em> out of his lungs by sucking his bottom lip into his mouth.</p>
<p>A muffled groan escapes his lips at the graze of teeth and Will took the opportunity to lick inside Nico's mouth—their tongues chasing and tangling together in a sensual dance.</p>
<p>The kisses escalate from there—getting hotter and messier with each slip and slide till every suck and lick elicited breathy whimpers and every desperate grope ended with their bodies pressed together more firmly.</p>
<p>Nico pulls away when the heat in his stomach borders on smoldering, he has to. His mind is too fogged up and his breathing too irregular. His heartbeat is so loud in his ears—or maybe that's Will's pressed under his hands—that he's surprised he's not having heart failure (though at this point, he wouldn't even be surprised if he did).</p>
<p>Will rests their foreheads together as they breath in the same air. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that for."</p>
<p>Nico snorted as a grin threatened to split his face in two, "I think I have a pretty good idea."</p>
<p>Will gave a breathy chuckle which he felt more than heard, "We're both idiots."</p>
<p>"That we are." But even as he said it, his eyes gravitated back to those deep depths and <em>fuck </em>how can someone have eyes so blue? It was totally unfair because the soft adoring look in them made Nico's chest tight with warmth and giddiness.</p>
<p>Overwhelmed by his gaze, Nico leaned down and pecked the blond's swollen lips. "I can't believe just when I found I can do this—" another soft peck, "—I have to leave to train."</p>
<p>Will hummed, "Guess we'll have to make do with what we have." And just like that, they were kissing again. It was scary how addicting Will's kisses were; whether it be the hot and heavy ones from before or the soft close mouthed ones they were sharing now.</p>
<p><em>I love you </em>the thought resonates in his mind, body and soul alike but Nico left it unsaid. Its safer this way, because out loud it’s a jinx until it settles a bit more. Love is reckless and will have to wait just a little bit longer to be voiced—just long enough for them to bring their lifes back in order from the brink of chaos.</p>
<p>And till that fateful night, Nico could learn to be satisfied with just this. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Lol, this chapter got a little out of hand 👉👈Apparently I write better when I'm stressed because then I have an excuse for being as overdramatic with the plot as I wish hehe. </p>
<p>Woohoo! They kissed! Finalllyyyy....I really hope it lived up to all your expectations! If you think Will is overreacting about the counselor thing then I'd like to remind you that he's like 15-16 and has only been the counselor *for an year* (I feel like everyone forgets the fact that Will is new to the leading role). Anyway, Let me know what you think in the comments and leave kudos if you liked it :D</p>
<p>Adios amigos 🖐️ See you next week!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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